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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + + + + +VOLUME I + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home +and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings +of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world +with very little to distress or vex her. + +She was the youngest of the two daughters of a most affectionate, +indulgent father; and had, in consequence of her sister's marriage, +been mistress of his house from a very early period. Her mother +had died too long ago for her to have more than an indistinct +remembrance of her caresses; and her place had been supplied +by an excellent woman as governess, who had fallen little short +of a mother in affection. + +Sixteen years had Miss Taylor been in Mr. Woodhouse's family, +less as a governess than a friend, very fond of both daughters, +but particularly of Emma. Between _them_ it was more the intimacy +of sisters. Even before Miss Taylor had ceased to hold the nominal +office of governess, the mildness of her temper had hardly allowed +her to impose any restraint; and the shadow of authority being +now long passed away, they had been living together as friend and +friend very mutually attached, and Emma doing just what she liked; +highly esteeming Miss Taylor's judgment, but directed chiefly by +her own. + +The real evils, indeed, of Emma's situation were the power of having +rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little +too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which threatened +alloy to her many enjoyments. The danger, however, was at present +so unperceived, that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes +with her. + +Sorrow came--a gentle sorrow--but not at all in the shape of any +disagreeable consciousness.--Miss Taylor married. It was Miss +Taylor's loss which first brought grief. It was on the wedding-day +of this beloved friend that Emma first sat in mournful thought +of any continuance. The wedding over, and the bride-people gone, +her father and herself were left to dine together, with no prospect +of a third to cheer a long evening. Her father composed himself +to sleep after dinner, as usual, and she had then only to sit +and think of what she had lost. + +The event had every promise of happiness for her friend. Mr. Weston +was a man of unexceptionable character, easy fortune, suitable age, +and pleasant manners; and there was some satisfaction in considering +with what self-denying, generous friendship she had always wished +and promoted the match; but it was a black morning's work for her. +The want of Miss Taylor would be felt every hour of every day. +She recalled her past kindness--the kindness, the affection of sixteen +years--how she had taught and how she had played with her from five +years old--how she had devoted all her powers to attach and amuse +her in health--and how nursed her through the various illnesses +of childhood. A large debt of gratitude was owing here; but the +intercourse of the last seven years, the equal footing and perfect +unreserve which had soon followed Isabella's marriage, on their +being left to each other, was yet a dearer, tenderer recollection. +She had been a friend and companion such as few possessed: intelligent, +well-informed, useful, gentle, knowing all the ways of the family, +interested in all its concerns, and peculiarly interested in herself, +in every pleasure, every scheme of hers--one to whom she could speak +every thought as it arose, and who had such an affection for her +as could never find fault. + +How was she to bear the change?--It was true that her friend was +going only half a mile from them; but Emma was aware that great must +be the difference between a Mrs. Weston, only half a mile from them, +and a Miss Taylor in the house; and with all her advantages, +natural and domestic, she was now in great danger of suffering +from intellectual solitude. She dearly loved her father, but he +was no companion for her. He could not meet her in conversation, +rational or playful. + +The evil of the actual disparity in their ages (and Mr. Woodhouse had +not married early) was much increased by his constitution and habits; +for having been a valetudinarian all his life, without activity +of mind or body, he was a much older man in ways than in years; +and though everywhere beloved for the friendliness of his heart +and his amiable temper, his talents could not have recommended him +at any time. + +Her sister, though comparatively but little removed by matrimony, +being settled in London, only sixteen miles off, was much beyond +her daily reach; and many a long October and November evening must +be struggled through at Hartfield, before Christmas brought the next +visit from Isabella and her husband, and their little children, +to fill the house, and give her pleasant society again. + +Highbury, the large and populous village, almost amounting to a town, +to which Hartfield, in spite of its separate lawn, and shrubberies, +and name, did really belong, afforded her no equals. The Woodhouses +were first in consequence there. All looked up to them. She had +many acquaintance in the place, for her father was universally civil, +but not one among them who could be accepted in lieu of Miss +Taylor for even half a day. It was a melancholy change; and Emma +could not but sigh over it, and wish for impossible things, +till her father awoke, and made it necessary to be cheerful. +His spirits required support. He was a nervous man, easily depressed; +fond of every body that he was used to, and hating to part with them; +hating change of every kind. Matrimony, as the origin of change, +was always disagreeable; and he was by no means yet reconciled +to his own daughter's marrying, nor could ever speak of her but +with compassion, though it had been entirely a match of affection, +when he was now obliged to part with Miss Taylor too; and from +his habits of gentle selfishness, and of being never able to +suppose that other people could feel differently from himself, +he was very much disposed to think Miss Taylor had done as sad +a thing for herself as for them, and would have been a great deal +happier if she had spent all the rest of her life at Hartfield. +Emma smiled and chatted as cheerfully as she could, to keep him +from such thoughts; but when tea came, it was impossible for him +not to say exactly as he had said at dinner, + +"Poor Miss Taylor!--I wish she were here again. What a pity it +is that Mr. Weston ever thought of her!" + +"I cannot agree with you, papa; you know I cannot. Mr. Weston is such +a good-humoured, pleasant, excellent man, that he thoroughly deserves +a good wife;--and you would not have had Miss Taylor live with us +for ever, and bear all my odd humours, when she might have a house of her own?" + +"A house of her own!--But where is the advantage of a house of her own? +This is three times as large.--And you have never any odd humours, +my dear." + +"How often we shall be going to see them, and they coming to see +us!--We shall be always meeting! _We_ must begin; we must go and pay +wedding visit very soon." + +"My dear, how am I to get so far? Randalls is such a distance. +I could not walk half so far." + +"No, papa, nobody thought of your walking. We must go in the carriage, +to be sure." + +"The carriage! But James will not like to put the horses to for +such a little way;--and where are the poor horses to be while we +are paying our visit?" + +"They are to be put into Mr. Weston's stable, papa. You know we +have settled all that already. We talked it all over with Mr. Weston +last night. And as for James, you may be very sure he will always like +going to Randalls, because of his daughter's being housemaid there. +I only doubt whether he will ever take us anywhere else. That was +your doing, papa. You got Hannah that good place. Nobody thought +of Hannah till you mentioned her--James is so obliged to you!" + +"I am very glad I did think of her. It was very lucky, for I would +not have had poor James think himself slighted upon any account; +and I am sure she will make a very good servant: she is a civil, +pretty-spoken girl; I have a great opinion of her. Whenever I see her, +she always curtseys and asks me how I do, in a very pretty manner; +and when you have had her here to do needlework, I observe she +always turns the lock of the door the right way and never bangs it. +I am sure she will be an excellent servant; and it will be a great +comfort to poor Miss Taylor to have somebody about her that she is +used to see. Whenever James goes over to see his daughter, you know, +she will be hearing of us. He will be able to tell her how we +all are." + +Emma spared no exertions to maintain this happier flow of ideas, +and hoped, by the help of backgammon, to get her father tolerably +through the evening, and be attacked by no regrets but her own. +The backgammon-table was placed; but a visitor immediately afterwards +walked in and made it unnecessary. + +Mr. Knightley, a sensible man about seven or eight-and-thirty, was not +only a very old and intimate friend of the family, but particularly +connected with it, as the elder brother of Isabella's husband. +He lived about a mile from Highbury, was a frequent visitor, +and always welcome, and at this time more welcome than usual, +as coming directly from their mutual connexions in London. He had +returned to a late dinner, after some days' absence, and now walked +up to Hartfield to say that all were well in Brunswick Square. +It was a happy circumstance, and animated Mr. Woodhouse for some time. +Mr. Knightley had a cheerful manner, which always did him good; +and his many inquiries after "poor Isabella" and her children were +answered most satisfactorily. When this was over, Mr. Woodhouse +gratefully observed, "It is very kind of you, Mr. Knightley, to come +out at this late hour to call upon us. I am afraid you must have +had a shocking walk." + +"Not at all, sir. It is a beautiful moonlight night; and so mild +that I must draw back from your great fire." + +"But you must have found it very damp and dirty. I wish you may +not catch cold." + +"Dirty, sir! Look at my shoes. Not a speck on them." + +"Well! that is quite surprising, for we have had a vast deal +of rain here. It rained dreadfully hard for half an hour +while we were at breakfast. I wanted them to put off the wedding." + +"By the bye--I have not wished you joy. Being pretty well aware +of what sort of joy you must both be feeling, I have been in no hurry +with my congratulations; but I hope it all went off tolerably well. +How did you all behave? Who cried most?" + +"Ah! poor Miss Taylor! 'Tis a sad business." + +"Poor Mr. and Miss Woodhouse, if you please; but I cannot possibly +say `poor Miss Taylor.' I have a great regard for you and Emma; +but when it comes to the question of dependence or independence!--At +any rate, it must be better to have only one to please than two." + +"Especially when _one_ of those two is such a fanciful, troublesome creature!" +said Emma playfully. "That is what you have in your head, +I know--and what you would certainly say if my father were not by." + +"I believe it is very true, my dear, indeed," said Mr. Woodhouse, +with a sigh. "I am afraid I am sometimes very fanciful and troublesome." + +"My dearest papa! You do not think I could mean _you_, or suppose +Mr. Knightley to mean _you_. What a horrible idea! Oh no! I meant +only myself. Mr. Knightley loves to find fault with me, you know-- +in a joke--it is all a joke. We always say what we like to one another." + +Mr. Knightley, in fact, was one of the few people who could see +faults in Emma Woodhouse, and the only one who ever told her of them: +and though this was not particularly agreeable to Emma herself, +she knew it would be so much less so to her father, that she would +not have him really suspect such a circumstance as her not being +thought perfect by every body. + +"Emma knows I never flatter her," said Mr. Knightley, "but I +meant no reflection on any body. Miss Taylor has been used +to have two persons to please; she will now have but one. +The chances are that she must be a gainer." + +"Well," said Emma, willing to let it pass--"you want to hear +about the wedding; and I shall be happy to tell you, for we all +behaved charmingly. Every body was punctual, every body in their +best looks: not a tear, and hardly a long face to be seen. Oh no; +we all felt that we were going to be only half a mile apart, +and were sure of meeting every day." + +"Dear Emma bears every thing so well," said her father. +"But, Mr. Knightley, she is really very sorry to lose poor Miss Taylor, +and I am sure she _will_ miss her more than she thinks for." + +Emma turned away her head, divided between tears and smiles. +"It is impossible that Emma should not miss such a companion," +said Mr. Knightley. "We should not like her so well as we do, sir, +if we could suppose it; but she knows how much the marriage is to +Miss Taylor's advantage; she knows how very acceptable it must be, +at Miss Taylor's time of life, to be settled in a home of her own, +and how important to her to be secure of a comfortable provision, +and therefore cannot allow herself to feel so much pain as pleasure. +Every friend of Miss Taylor must be glad to have her so happily +married." + +"And you have forgotten one matter of joy to me," said Emma, +"and a very considerable one--that I made the match myself. +I made the match, you know, four years ago; and to have it take place, +and be proved in the right, when so many people said Mr. Weston would +never marry again, may comfort me for any thing." + +Mr. Knightley shook his head at her. Her father fondly replied, +"Ah! my dear, I wish you would not make matches and foretell things, +for whatever you say always comes to pass. Pray do not make any +more matches." + +"I promise you to make none for myself, papa; but I must, indeed, +for other people. It is the greatest amusement in the world! And +after such success, you know!--Every body said that Mr. Weston would +never marry again. Oh dear, no! Mr. Weston, who had been a widower +so long, and who seemed so perfectly comfortable without a wife, +so constantly occupied either in his business in town or among his +friends here, always acceptable wherever he went, always cheerful-- +Mr. Weston need not spend a single evening in the year alone if he did +not like it. Oh no! Mr. Weston certainly would never marry again. +Some people even talked of a promise to his wife on her deathbed, +and others of the son and the uncle not letting him. All manner +of solemn nonsense was talked on the subject, but I believed none +of it. + +"Ever since the day--about four years ago--that Miss Taylor and I +met with him in Broadway Lane, when, because it began to drizzle, +he darted away with so much gallantry, and borrowed two umbrellas +for us from Farmer Mitchell's, I made up my mind on the subject. +I planned the match from that hour; and when such success has blessed +me in this instance, dear papa, you cannot think that I shall leave +off match-making." + +"I do not understand what you mean by `success,'" said Mr. Knightley. +"Success supposes endeavour. Your time has been properly and +delicately spent, if you have been endeavouring for the last four +years to bring about this marriage. A worthy employment for a young +lady's mind! But if, which I rather imagine, your making the match, +as you call it, means only your planning it, your saying to yourself +one idle day, `I think it would be a very good thing for Miss Taylor +if Mr. Weston were to marry her,' and saying it again to yourself +every now and then afterwards, why do you talk of success? Where +is your merit? What are you proud of? You made a lucky guess; +and _that_ is all that can be said." + +"And have you never known the pleasure and triumph of a lucky guess?-- +I pity you.--I thought you cleverer--for, depend upon it a lucky +guess is never merely luck. There is always some talent in it. +And as to my poor word `success,' which you quarrel with, I do not +know that I am so entirely without any claim to it. You have drawn +two pretty pictures; but I think there may be a third--a something +between the do-nothing and the do-all. If I had not promoted Mr. Weston's +visits here, and given many little encouragements, and smoothed +many little matters, it might not have come to any thing after all. +I think you must know Hartfield enough to comprehend that." + +"A straightforward, open-hearted man like Weston, and a rational, +unaffected woman like Miss Taylor, may be safely left to manage their +own concerns. You are more likely to have done harm to yourself, +than good to them, by interference." + +"Emma never thinks of herself, if she can do good to others," +rejoined Mr. Woodhouse, understanding but in part. "But, my dear, +pray do not make any more matches; they are silly things, and break up +one's family circle grievously." + +"Only one more, papa; only for Mr. Elton. Poor Mr. Elton! You +like Mr. Elton, papa,--I must look about for a wife for him. +There is nobody in Highbury who deserves him--and he has been +here a whole year, and has fitted up his house so comfortably, +that it would be a shame to have him single any longer--and I thought +when he was joining their hands to-day, he looked so very much as if +he would like to have the same kind office done for him! I think +very well of Mr. Elton, and this is the only way I have of doing +him a service." + +"Mr. Elton is a very pretty young man, to be sure, and a very +good young man, and I have a great regard for him. But if you +want to shew him any attention, my dear, ask him to come +and dine with us some day. That will be a much better thing. +I dare say Mr. Knightley will be so kind as to meet him." + +"With a great deal of pleasure, sir, at any time," said Mr. Knightley, +laughing, "and I agree with you entirely, that it will be a much +better thing. Invite him to dinner, Emma, and help him to the best +of the fish and the chicken, but leave him to chuse his own wife. +Depend upon it, a man of six or seven-and-twenty can take care +of himself." + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Mr. Weston was a native of Highbury, and born of a respectable family, +which for the last two or three generations had been rising into +gentility and property. He had received a good education, but, +on succeeding early in life to a small independence, had become +indisposed for any of the more homely pursuits in which his brothers +were engaged, and had satisfied an active, cheerful mind and social +temper by entering into the militia of his county, then embodied. + +Captain Weston was a general favourite; and when the chances +of his military life had introduced him to Miss Churchill, +of a great Yorkshire family, and Miss Churchill fell in love +with him, nobody was surprized, except her brother and his wife, +who had never seen him, and who were full of pride and importance, +which the connexion would offend. + +Miss Churchill, however, being of age, and with the full command +of her fortune--though her fortune bore no proportion to the +family-estate--was not to be dissuaded from the marriage, and it +took place, to the infinite mortification of Mr. and Mrs. Churchill, +who threw her off with due decorum. It was an unsuitable connexion, +and did not produce much happiness. Mrs. Weston ought to have found +more in it, for she had a husband whose warm heart and sweet temper +made him think every thing due to her in return for the great goodness +of being in love with him; but though she had one sort of spirit, +she had not the best. She had resolution enough to pursue +her own will in spite of her brother, but not enough to refrain +from unreasonable regrets at that brother's unreasonable anger, +nor from missing the luxuries of her former home. They lived beyond +their income, but still it was nothing in comparison of Enscombe: +she did not cease to love her husband, but she wanted at once +to be the wife of Captain Weston, and Miss Churchill of Enscombe. + +Captain Weston, who had been considered, especially by the Churchills, +as making such an amazing match, was proved to have much the worst +of the bargain; for when his wife died, after a three years' marriage, +he was rather a poorer man than at first, and with a child to maintain. +From the expense of the child, however, he was soon relieved. +The boy had, with the additional softening claim of a lingering +illness of his mother's, been the means of a sort of reconciliation; +and Mr. and Mrs. Churchill, having no children of their own, +nor any other young creature of equal kindred to care for, offered to +take the whole charge of the little Frank soon after her decease. +Some scruples and some reluctance the widower-father may be supposed +to have felt; but as they were overcome by other considerations, +the child was given up to the care and the wealth of the Churchills, +and he had only his own comfort to seek, and his own situation to +improve as he could. + +A complete change of life became desirable. He quitted the militia +and engaged in trade, having brothers already established in a +good way in London, which afforded him a favourable opening. +It was a concern which brought just employment enough. He had still +a small house in Highbury, where most of his leisure days were spent; +and between useful occupation and the pleasures of society, +the next eighteen or twenty years of his life passed cheerfully away. +He had, by that time, realised an easy competence--enough to secure +the purchase of a little estate adjoining Highbury, which he had +always longed for--enough to marry a woman as portionless even +as Miss Taylor, and to live according to the wishes of his own +friendly and social disposition. + +It was now some time since Miss Taylor had begun to influence +his schemes; but as it was not the tyrannic influence of youth +on youth, it had not shaken his determination of never settling +till he could purchase Randalls, and the sale of Randalls was long +looked forward to; but he had gone steadily on, with these objects +in view, till they were accomplished. He had made his fortune, +bought his house, and obtained his wife; and was beginning a new +period of existence, with every probability of greater happiness +than in any yet passed through. He had never been an unhappy man; +his own temper had secured him from that, even in his first marriage; +but his second must shew him how delightful a well-judging and truly +amiable woman could be, and must give him the pleasantest proof +of its being a great deal better to choose than to be chosen, +to excite gratitude than to feel it. + +He had only himself to please in his choice: his fortune was +his own; for as to Frank, it was more than being tacitly brought +up as his uncle's heir, it had become so avowed an adoption +as to have him assume the name of Churchill on coming of age. +It was most unlikely, therefore, that he should ever want his +father's assistance. His father had no apprehension of it. +The aunt was a capricious woman, and governed her husband entirely; +but it was not in Mr. Weston's nature to imagine that any caprice +could be strong enough to affect one so dear, and, as he believed, +so deservedly dear. He saw his son every year in London, +and was proud of him; and his fond report of him as a very fine +young man had made Highbury feel a sort of pride in him too. +He was looked on as sufficiently belonging to the place to make his +merits and prospects a kind of common concern. + +Mr. Frank Churchill was one of the boasts of Highbury, and a lively +curiosity to see him prevailed, though the compliment was so little +returned that he had never been there in his life. His coming +to visit his father had been often talked of but never achieved. + +Now, upon his father's marriage, it was very generally proposed, +as a most proper attention, that the visit should take place. +There was not a dissentient voice on the subject, either when +Mrs. Perry drank tea with Mrs. and Miss Bates, or when Mrs. and +Miss Bates returned the visit. Now was the time for Mr. Frank +Churchill to come among them; and the hope strengthened when it was +understood that he had written to his new mother on the occasion. +For a few days, every morning visit in Highbury included some mention +of the handsome letter Mrs. Weston had received. "I suppose you +have heard of the handsome letter Mr. Frank Churchill has written +to Mrs. Weston? I understand it was a very handsome letter, indeed. +Mr. Woodhouse told me of it. Mr. Woodhouse saw the letter, and he +says he never saw such a handsome letter in his life." + +It was, indeed, a highly prized letter. Mrs. Weston had, of course, +formed a very favourable idea of the young man; and such a pleasing +attention was an irresistible proof of his great good sense, +and a most welcome addition to every source and every expression +of congratulation which her marriage had already secured. She felt +herself a most fortunate woman; and she had lived long enough +to know how fortunate she might well be thought, where the only +regret was for a partial separation from friends whose friendship +for her had never cooled, and who could ill bear to part with her. + +She knew that at times she must be missed; and could not think, +without pain, of Emma's losing a single pleasure, or suffering +an hour's ennui, from the want of her companionableness: but dear +Emma was of no feeble character; she was more equal to her situation +than most girls would have been, and had sense, and energy, +and spirits that might be hoped would bear her well and happily +through its little difficulties and privations. And then there was +such comfort in the very easy distance of Randalls from Hartfield, +so convenient for even solitary female walking, and in Mr. Weston's +disposition and circumstances, which would make the approaching +season no hindrance to their spending half the evenings in the +week together. + +Her situation was altogether the subject of hours of gratitude +to Mrs. Weston, and of moments only of regret; and her +satisfaction--her more than satisfaction--her cheerful enjoyment, +was so just and so apparent, that Emma, well as she knew her father, +was sometimes taken by surprize at his being still able to pity +`poor Miss Taylor,' when they left her at Randalls in the centre +of every domestic comfort, or saw her go away in the evening +attended by her pleasant husband to a carriage of her own. +But never did she go without Mr. Woodhouse's giving a gentle sigh, +and saying, "Ah, poor Miss Taylor! She would be very glad to stay." + +There was no recovering Miss Taylor--nor much likelihood of +ceasing to pity her; but a few weeks brought some alleviation +to Mr. Woodhouse. The compliments of his neighbours were over; +he was no longer teased by being wished joy of so sorrowful an event; +and the wedding-cake, which had been a great distress to him, +was all eat up. His own stomach could bear nothing rich, and he +could never believe other people to be different from himself. +What was unwholesome to him he regarded as unfit for any body; +and he had, therefore, earnestly tried to dissuade them from having +any wedding-cake at all, and when that proved vain, as earnestly +tried to prevent any body's eating it. He had been at the pains +of consulting Mr. Perry, the apothecary, on the subject. Mr. Perry +was an intelligent, gentlemanlike man, whose frequent visits were one +of the comforts of Mr. Woodhouse's life; and upon being applied to, +he could not but acknowledge (though it seemed rather against the +bias of inclination) that wedding-cake might certainly disagree +with many--perhaps with most people, unless taken moderately. +With such an opinion, in confirmation of his own, Mr. Woodhouse hoped +to influence every visitor of the newly married pair; but still the +cake was eaten; and there was no rest for his benevolent nerves till +it was all gone. + +There was a strange rumour in Highbury of all the little Perrys +being seen with a slice of Mrs. Weston's wedding-cake in their +hands: but Mr. Woodhouse would never believe it. + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Mr. Woodhouse was fond of society in his own way. He liked very much +to have his friends come and see him; and from various united causes, +from his long residence at Hartfield, and his good nature, +from his fortune, his house, and his daughter, he could command the +visits of his own little circle, in a great measure, as he liked. +He had not much intercourse with any families beyond that circle; +his horror of late hours, and large dinner-parties, made him unfit +for any acquaintance but such as would visit him on his own terms. +Fortunately for him, Highbury, including Randalls in the same parish, +and Donwell Abbey in the parish adjoining, the seat of Mr. Knightley, +comprehended many such. Not unfrequently, through Emma's persuasion, +he had some of the chosen and the best to dine with him: but evening +parties were what he preferred; and, unless he fancied himself at any +time unequal to company, there was scarcely an evening in the week +in which Emma could not make up a card-table for him. + +Real, long-standing regard brought the Westons and Mr. Knightley; +and by Mr. Elton, a young man living alone without liking it, +the privilege of exchanging any vacant evening of his own blank solitude +for the elegancies and society of Mr. Woodhouse's drawing-room, +and the smiles of his lovely daughter, was in no danger of being +thrown away. + +After these came a second set; among the most come-at-able +of whom were Mrs. and Miss Bates, and Mrs. Goddard, three ladies +almost always at the service of an invitation from Hartfield, +and who were fetched and carried home so often, that Mr. Woodhouse +thought it no hardship for either James or the horses. Had it +taken place only once a year, it would have been a grievance. + +Mrs. Bates, the widow of a former vicar of Highbury, was a +very old lady, almost past every thing but tea and quadrille. +She lived with her single daughter in a very small way, and was +considered with all the regard and respect which a harmless old lady, +under such untoward circumstances, can excite. Her daughter enjoyed +a most uncommon degree of popularity for a woman neither young, +handsome, rich, nor married. Miss Bates stood in the very worst +predicament in the world for having much of the public favour; +and she had no intellectual superiority to make atonement to herself, +or frighten those who might hate her into outward respect. +She had never boasted either beauty or cleverness. Her youth +had passed without distinction, and her middle of life was devoted +to the care of a failing mother, and the endeavour to make a small +income go as far as possible. And yet she was a happy woman, +and a woman whom no one named without good-will. It was her own +universal good-will and contented temper which worked such wonders. +She loved every body, was interested in every body's happiness, +quicksighted to every body's merits; thought herself a most fortunate +creature, and surrounded with blessings in such an excellent mother, +and so many good neighbours and friends, and a home that wanted +for nothing. The simplicity and cheerfulness of her nature, +her contented and grateful spirit, were a recommendation to every body, +and a mine of felicity to herself. She was a great talker upon +little matters, which exactly suited Mr. Woodhouse, full of trivial +communications and harmless gossip. + +Mrs. Goddard was the mistress of a School--not of a seminary, +or an establishment, or any thing which professed, in long sentences of +refined nonsense, to combine liberal acquirements with elegant morality, +upon new principles and new systems--and where young ladies for +enormous pay might be screwed out of health and into vanity--but +a real, honest, old-fashioned Boarding-school, where a reasonable +quantity of accomplishments were sold at a reasonable price, +and where girls might be sent to be out of the way, and scramble +themselves into a little education, without any danger of coming +back prodigies. Mrs. Goddard's school was in high repute--and +very deservedly; for Highbury was reckoned a particularly healthy +spot: she had an ample house and garden, gave the children plenty +of wholesome food, let them run about a great deal in the summer, +and in winter dressed their chilblains with her own hands. +It was no wonder that a train of twenty young couple now walked +after her to church. She was a plain, motherly kind of woman, +who had worked hard in her youth, and now thought herself entitled +to the occasional holiday of a tea-visit; and having formerly +owed much to Mr. Woodhouse's kindness, felt his particular claim +on her to leave her neat parlour, hung round with fancy-work, +whenever she could, and win or lose a few sixpences by his fireside. + +These were the ladies whom Emma found herself very frequently +able to collect; and happy was she, for her father's sake, +in the power; though, as far as she was herself concerned, +it was no remedy for the absence of Mrs. Weston. She was delighted +to see her father look comfortable, and very much pleased with +herself for contriving things so well; but the quiet prosings +of three such women made her feel that every evening so spent +was indeed one of the long evenings she had fearfully anticipated. + +As she sat one morning, looking forward to exactly such a close +of the present day, a note was brought from Mrs. Goddard, requesting, +in most respectful terms, to be allowed to bring Miss Smith with her; +a most welcome request: for Miss Smith was a girl of seventeen, +whom Emma knew very well by sight, and had long felt an interest in, +on account of her beauty. A very gracious invitation was returned, +and the evening no longer dreaded by the fair mistress of the mansion. + +Harriet Smith was the natural daughter of somebody. Somebody had +placed her, several years back, at Mrs. Goddard's school, +and somebody had lately raised her from the condition of scholar +to that of parlour-boarder. This was all that was generally known +of her history. She had no visible friends but what had been +acquired at Highbury, and was now just returned from a long visit +in the country to some young ladies who had been at school there with her. + +She was a very pretty girl, and her beauty happened to be of a sort +which Emma particularly admired. She was short, plump, and fair, +with a fine bloom, blue eyes, light hair, regular features, +and a look of great sweetness, and, before the end of the evening, +Emma was as much pleased with her manners as her person, and quite +determined to continue the acquaintance. + +She was not struck by any thing remarkably clever in Miss Smith's +conversation, but she found her altogether very engaging--not +inconveniently shy, not unwilling to talk--and yet so far from pushing, +shewing so proper and becoming a deference, seeming so pleasantly +grateful for being admitted to Hartfield, and so artlessly +impressed by the appearance of every thing in so superior a style +to what she had been used to, that she must have good sense, +and deserve encouragement. Encouragement should be given. +Those soft blue eyes, and all those natural graces, should not be +wasted on the inferior society of Highbury and its connexions. +The acquaintance she had already formed were unworthy of her. +The friends from whom she had just parted, though very good sort +of people, must be doing her harm. They were a family of the name +of Martin, whom Emma well knew by character, as renting a large farm +of Mr. Knightley, and residing in the parish of Donwell--very creditably, +she believed--she knew Mr. Knightley thought highly of them--but they +must be coarse and unpolished, and very unfit to be the intimates +of a girl who wanted only a little more knowledge and elegance +to be quite perfect. _She_ would notice her; she would improve her; +she would detach her from her bad acquaintance, and introduce her +into good society; she would form her opinions and her manners. +It would be an interesting, and certainly a very kind undertaking; +highly becoming her own situation in life, her leisure, and powers. + +She was so busy in admiring those soft blue eyes, in talking +and listening, and forming all these schemes in the in-betweens, that +the evening flew away at a very unusual rate; and the supper-table, +which always closed such parties, and for which she had been +used to sit and watch the due time, was all set out and ready, +and moved forwards to the fire, before she was aware. With an +alacrity beyond the common impulse of a spirit which yet was never +indifferent to the credit of doing every thing well and attentively, +with the real good-will of a mind delighted with its own ideas, +did she then do all the honours of the meal, and help and recommend +the minced chicken and scalloped oysters, with an urgency which she +knew would be acceptable to the early hours and civil scruples of their guests. + +Upon such occasions poor Mr. Woodhouses feelings were in sad warfare. +He loved to have the cloth laid, because it had been the fashion +of his youth, but his conviction of suppers being very unwholesome +made him rather sorry to see any thing put on it; and while his +hospitality would have welcomed his visitors to every thing, +his care for their health made him grieve that they would eat. + +Such another small basin of thin gruel as his own was all that +he could, with thorough self-approbation, recommend; though he +might constrain himself, while the ladies were comfortably clearing +the nicer things, to say: + +"Mrs. Bates, let me propose your venturing on one of these eggs. +An egg boiled very soft is not unwholesome. Serle understands boiling +an egg better than any body. I would not recommend an egg boiled +by any body else; but you need not be afraid, they are very small, +you see--one of our small eggs will not hurt you. Miss Bates, +let Emma help you to a _little_ bit of tart--a _very_ little bit. +Ours are all apple-tarts. You need not be afraid of unwholesome +preserves here. I do not advise the custard. Mrs. Goddard, what say +you to _half_ a glass of wine? A _small_ half-glass, put into a tumbler +of water? I do not think it could disagree with you." + +Emma allowed her father to talk--but supplied her visitors in +a much more satisfactory style, and on the present evening had +particular pleasure in sending them away happy. The happiness +of Miss Smith was quite equal to her intentions. Miss Woodhouse +was so great a personage in Highbury, that the prospect of the +introduction had given as much panic as pleasure; but the humble, +grateful little girl went off with highly gratified feelings, +delighted with the affability with which Miss Woodhouse had treated +her all the evening, and actually shaken hands with her at last! + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Harriet Smith's intimacy at Hartfield was soon a settled thing. +Quick and decided in her ways, Emma lost no time in inviting, encouraging, +and telling her to come very often; and as their acquaintance increased, +so did their satisfaction in each other. As a walking companion, +Emma had very early foreseen how useful she might find her. +In that respect Mrs. Weston's loss had been important. Her father +never went beyond the shrubbery, where two divisions of the ground +sufficed him for his long walk, or his short, as the year varied; +and since Mrs. Weston's marriage her exercise had been too much confined. +She had ventured once alone to Randalls, but it was not pleasant; +and a Harriet Smith, therefore, one whom she could summon at any +time to a walk, would be a valuable addition to her privileges. +But in every respect, as she saw more of her, she approved her, +and was confirmed in all her kind designs. + +Harriet certainly was not clever, but she had a sweet, docile, +grateful disposition, was totally free from conceit, and only desiring +to be guided by any one she looked up to. Her early attachment +to herself was very amiable; and her inclination for good company, +and power of appreciating what was elegant and clever, shewed that +there was no want of taste, though strength of understanding must +not be expected. Altogether she was quite convinced of Harriet +Smith's being exactly the young friend she wanted--exactly the +something which her home required. Such a friend as Mrs. Weston +was out of the question. Two such could never be granted. +Two such she did not want. It was quite a different sort of thing, +a sentiment distinct and independent. Mrs. Weston was the object +of a regard which had its basis in gratitude and esteem. +Harriet would be loved as one to whom she could be useful. +For Mrs. Weston there was nothing to be done; for Harriet every thing. + +Her first attempts at usefulness were in an endeavour to find out who +were the parents, but Harriet could not tell. She was ready to tell +every thing in her power, but on this subject questions were vain. +Emma was obliged to fancy what she liked--but she could never +believe that in the same situation _she_ should not have discovered +the truth. Harriet had no penetration. She had been satisfied +to hear and believe just what Mrs. Goddard chose to tell her; +and looked no farther. + +Mrs. Goddard, and the teachers, and the girls and the affairs of the +school in general, formed naturally a great part of the conversation--and +but for her acquaintance with the Martins of Abbey-Mill Farm, +it must have been the whole. But the Martins occupied her thoughts +a good deal; she had spent two very happy months with them, +and now loved to talk of the pleasures of her visit, and describe +the many comforts and wonders of the place. Emma encouraged her +talkativeness--amused by such a picture of another set of beings, +and enjoying the youthful simplicity which could speak with so much +exultation of Mrs. Martin's having "_two_ parlours, two very good parlours, +indeed; one of them quite as large as Mrs. Goddard's drawing-room; +and of her having an upper maid who had lived five-and-twenty years +with her; and of their having eight cows, two of them Alderneys, +and one a little Welch cow, a very pretty little Welch cow indeed; +and of Mrs. Martin's saying as she was so fond of it, it should be +called _her_ cow; and of their having a very handsome summer-house +in their garden, where some day next year they were all to drink +tea:--a very handsome summer-house, large enough to hold a dozen people." + +For some time she was amused, without thinking beyond the immediate cause; +but as she came to understand the family better, other feelings arose. +She had taken up a wrong idea, fancying it was a mother and daughter, +a son and son's wife, who all lived together; but when it appeared +that the Mr. Martin, who bore a part in the narrative, and was always +mentioned with approbation for his great good-nature in doing something +or other, was a single man; that there was no young Mrs. Martin, +no wife in the case; she did suspect danger to her poor little +friend from all this hospitality and kindness, and that, if she +were not taken care of, she might be required to sink herself forever. + +With this inspiriting notion, her questions increased in number +and meaning; and she particularly led Harriet to talk more of Mr. Martin, +and there was evidently no dislike to it. Harriet was very ready +to speak of the share he had had in their moonlight walks and merry +evening games; and dwelt a good deal upon his being so very good-humoured +and obliging. He had gone three miles round one day in order to bring +her some walnuts, because she had said how fond she was of them, +and in every thing else he was so very obliging. He had his +shepherd's son into the parlour one night on purpose to sing to her. +She was very fond of singing. He could sing a little himself. +She believed he was very clever, and understood every thing. +He had a very fine flock, and, while she was with them, +he had been bid more for his wool than any body in the country. +She believed every body spoke well of him. His mother and sisters +were very fond of him. Mrs. Martin had told her one day (and there +was a blush as she said it,) that it was impossible for any body +to be a better son, and therefore she was sure, whenever he married, +he would make a good husband. Not that she _wanted_ him to marry. +She was in no hurry at all. + +"Well done, Mrs. Martin!" thought Emma. "You know what you are about." + +"And when she had come away, Mrs. Martin was so very kind as to send +Mrs. Goddard a beautiful goose--the finest goose Mrs. Goddard had +ever seen. Mrs. Goddard had dressed it on a Sunday, and asked all +the three teachers, Miss Nash, and Miss Prince, and Miss Richardson, +to sup with her." + +"Mr. Martin, I suppose, is not a man of information beyond the line +of his own business? He does not read?" + +"Oh yes!--that is, no--I do not know--but I believe he has +read a good deal--but not what you would think any thing of. +He reads the Agricultural Reports, and some other books that lay +in one of the window seats--but he reads all _them_ to himself. +But sometimes of an evening, before we went to cards, he would read +something aloud out of the Elegant Extracts, very entertaining. +And I know he has read the Vicar of Wakefield. He never read the +Romance of the Forest, nor The Children of the Abbey. He had never +heard of such books before I mentioned them, but he is determined +to get them now as soon as ever he can." + +The next question was-- + +"What sort of looking man is Mr. Martin?" + +"Oh! not handsome--not at all handsome. I thought him very plain +at first, but I do not think him so plain now. One does not, you know, +after a time. But did you never see him? He is in Highbury every +now and then, and he is sure to ride through every week in his way +to Kingston. He has passed you very often." + +"That may be, and I may have seen him fifty times, but without +having any idea of his name. A young farmer, whether on horseback +or on foot, is the very last sort of person to raise my curiosity. +The yeomanry are precisely the order of people with whom I feel I +can have nothing to do. A degree or two lower, and a creditable +appearance might interest me; I might hope to be useful to their +families in some way or other. But a farmer can need none of my help, +and is, therefore, in one sense, as much above my notice as in every +other he is below it." + +"To be sure. Oh yes! It is not likely you should ever have +observed him; but he knows you very well indeed--I mean by sight." + +"I have no doubt of his being a very respectable young man. +I know, indeed, that he is so, and, as such, wish him well. +What do you imagine his age to be?" + +"He was four-and-twenty the 8th of last June, and my birthday is +the 23rd just a fortnight and a day's difference--which is very odd." + +"Only four-and-twenty. That is too young to settle. His mother is +perfectly right not to be in a hurry. They seem very comfortable +as they are, and if she were to take any pains to marry him, +she would probably repent it. Six years hence, if he could meet +with a good sort of young woman in the same rank as his own, +with a little money, it might be very desirable." + +"Six years hence! Dear Miss Woodhouse, he would be thirty years old!" + +"Well, and that is as early as most men can afford to marry, +who are not born to an independence. Mr. Martin, I imagine, +has his fortune entirely to make--cannot be at all beforehand with +the world. Whatever money he might come into when his father died, +whatever his share of the family property, it is, I dare say, +all afloat, all employed in his stock, and so forth; and though, +with diligence and good luck, he may be rich in time, it is next to +impossible that he should have realised any thing yet." + +"To be sure, so it is. But they live very comfortably. +They have no indoors man, else they do not want for any thing; +and Mrs. Martin talks of taking a boy another year." + +"I wish you may not get into a scrape, Harriet, whenever he does +marry;--I mean, as to being acquainted with his wife--for though +his sisters, from a superior education, are not to be altogether +objected to, it does not follow that he might marry any body at all fit +for you to notice. The misfortune of your birth ought to make you +particularly careful as to your associates. There can be no doubt +of your being a gentleman's daughter, and you must support your +claim to that station by every thing within your own power, or there +will be plenty of people who would take pleasure in degrading you." + +"Yes, to be sure, I suppose there are. But while I visit +at Hartfield, and you are so kind to me, Miss Woodhouse, +I am not afraid of what any body can do." + +"You understand the force of influence pretty well, Harriet; but I +would have you so firmly established in good society, as to be +independent even of Hartfield and Miss Woodhouse. I want to see you +permanently well connected, and to that end it will be advisable +to have as few odd acquaintance as may be; and, therefore, I say +that if you should still be in this country when Mr. Martin marries, +I wish you may not be drawn in by your intimacy with the sisters, +to be acquainted with the wife, who will probably be some mere +farmer's daughter, without education." + +"To be sure. Yes. Not that I think Mr. Martin would ever marry any body +but what had had some education--and been very well brought up. +However, I do not mean to set up my opinion against your's--and I +am sure I shall not wish for the acquaintance of his wife. I shall +always have a great regard for the Miss Martins, especially Elizabeth, +and should be very sorry to give them up, for they are quite as well +educated as me. But if he marries a very ignorant, vulgar woman, +certainly I had better not visit her, if I can help it." + +Emma watched her through the fluctuations of this speech, +and saw no alarming symptoms of love. The young man had been +the first admirer, but she trusted there was no other hold, +and that there would be no serious difficulty, on Harriet's side, +to oppose any friendly arrangement of her own. + +They met Mr. Martin the very next day, as they were walking on the +Donwell road. He was on foot, and after looking very respectfully +at her, looked with most unfeigned satisfaction at her companion. +Emma was not sorry to have such an opportunity of survey; +and walking a few yards forward, while they talked together, soon made +her quick eye sufficiently acquainted with Mr. Robert Martin. +His appearance was very neat, and he looked like a sensible young man, +but his person had no other advantage; and when he came to be +contrasted with gentlemen, she thought he must lose all the ground +he had gained in Harriet's inclination. Harriet was not insensible +of manner; she had voluntarily noticed her father's gentleness +with admiration as well as wonder. Mr. Martin looked as if he +did not know what manner was. + +They remained but a few minutes together, as Miss Woodhouse must +not be kept waiting; and Harriet then came running to her with a +smiling face, and in a flutter of spirits, which Miss Woodhouse +hoped very soon to compose. + +"Only think of our happening to meet him!--How very odd! It was +quite a chance, he said, that he had not gone round by Randalls. +He did not think we ever walked this road. He thought we walked +towards Randalls most days. He has not been able to get the +Romance of the Forest yet. He was so busy the last time he was +at Kingston that he quite forgot it, but he goes again to-morrow. +So very odd we should happen to meet! Well, Miss Woodhouse, is he +like what you expected? What do you think of him? Do you think him +so very plain?" + +"He is very plain, undoubtedly--remarkably plain:--but that is +nothing compared with his entire want of gentility. I had no +right to expect much, and I did not expect much; but I had no +idea that he could be so very clownish, so totally without air. +I had imagined him, I confess, a degree or two nearer gentility." + +"To be sure," said Harriet, in a mortified voice, "he is not +so genteel as real gentlemen." + +"I think, Harriet, since your acquaintance with us, you have been +repeatedly in the company of some such very real gentlemen, +that you must yourself be struck with the difference in Mr. Martin. +At Hartfield, you have had very good specimens of well educated, +well bred men. I should be surprized if, after seeing them, +you could be in company with Mr. Martin again without perceiving +him to be a very inferior creature--and rather wondering at +yourself for having ever thought him at all agreeable before. +Do not you begin to feel that now? Were not you struck? I am sure +you must have been struck by his awkward look and abrupt manner, +and the uncouthness of a voice which I heard to be wholly unmodulated +as I stood here." + +"Certainly, he is not like Mr. Knightley. He has not such a fine +air and way of walking as Mr. Knightley. I see the difference +plain enough. But Mr. Knightley is so very fine a man!" + +"Mr. Knightley's air is so remarkably good that it is not fair +to compare Mr. Martin with _him_. You might not see one in a hundred +with _gentleman_ so plainly written as in Mr. Knightley. But he is +not the only gentleman you have been lately used to. What say you +to Mr. Weston and Mr. Elton? Compare Mr. Martin with either of _them_. +Compare their manner of carrying themselves; of walking; of speaking; +of being silent. You must see the difference." + +"Oh yes!--there is a great difference. But Mr. Weston is almost +an old man. Mr. Weston must be between forty and fifty." + +"Which makes his good manners the more valuable. The older a +person grows, Harriet, the more important it is that their manners +should not be bad; the more glaring and disgusting any loudness, +or coarseness, or awkwardness becomes. What is passable in youth +is detestable in later age. Mr. Martin is now awkward and abrupt; +what will he be at Mr. Weston's time of life?" + +"There is no saying, indeed," replied Harriet rather solemnly. + +"But there may be pretty good guessing. He will be a completely gross, +vulgar farmer, totally inattentive to appearances, and thinking +of nothing but profit and loss." + +"Will he, indeed? That will be very bad." + +"How much his business engrosses him already is very plain from the +circumstance of his forgetting to inquire for the book you recommended. +He was a great deal too full of the market to think of any thing +else--which is just as it should be, for a thriving man. What has +he to do with books? And I have no doubt that he _will_ thrive, +and be a very rich man in time--and his being illiterate and coarse +need not disturb _us_." + +"I wonder he did not remember the book"--was all Harriet's answer, +and spoken with a degree of grave displeasure which Emma thought might +be safely left to itself. She, therefore, said no more for some time. +Her next beginning was, + +"In one respect, perhaps, Mr. Elton's manners are superior +to Mr. Knightley's or Mr. Weston's. They have more gentleness. +They might be more safely held up as a pattern. There is an openness, +a quickness, almost a bluntness in Mr. Weston, which every body +likes in _him_, because there is so much good-humour with it--but +that would not do to be copied. Neither would Mr. Knightley's +downright, decided, commanding sort of manner, though it suits +_him_ very well; his figure, and look, and situation in life seem +to allow it; but if any young man were to set about copying him, +he would not be sufferable. On the contrary, I think a young man +might be very safely recommended to take Mr. Elton as a model. +Mr. Elton is good-humoured, cheerful, obliging, and gentle. +He seems to me to be grown particularly gentle of late. I do not +know whether he has any design of ingratiating himself with either +of us, Harriet, by additional softness, but it strikes me that his +manners are softer than they used to be. If he means any thing, +it must be to please you. Did not I tell you what he said of you +the other day?" + +She then repeated some warm personal praise which she had drawn +from Mr. Elton, and now did full justice to; and Harriet blushed +and smiled, and said she had always thought Mr. Elton very agreeable. + +Mr. Elton was the very person fixed on by Emma for driving +the young farmer out of Harriet's head. She thought it would +be an excellent match; and only too palpably desirable, natural, +and probable, for her to have much merit in planning it. +She feared it was what every body else must think of and predict. +It was not likely, however, that any body should have equalled +her in the date of the plan, as it had entered her brain during +the very first evening of Harriet's coming to Hartfield. The longer +she considered it, the greater was her sense of its expediency. +Mr. Elton's situation was most suitable, quite the gentleman himself, +and without low connexions; at the same time, not of any family +that could fairly object to the doubtful birth of Harriet. He had a +comfortable home for her, and Emma imagined a very sufficient income; +for though the vicarage of Highbury was not large, he was known +to have some independent property; and she thought very highly +of him as a good-humoured, well-meaning, respectable young man, +without any deficiency of useful understanding or knowledge of the world. + +She had already satisfied herself that he thought Harriet a beautiful +girl, which she trusted, with such frequent meetings at Hartfield, +was foundation enough on his side; and on Harriet's there could be +little doubt that the idea of being preferred by him would have all +the usual weight and efficacy. And he was really a very pleasing +young man, a young man whom any woman not fastidious might like. +He was reckoned very handsome; his person much admired in general, +though not by her, there being a want of elegance of feature which +she could not dispense with:--but the girl who could be gratified +by a Robert Martin's riding about the country to get walnuts +for her might very well be conquered by Mr. Elton's admiration. + + + +CHAPTER V + + +"I do not know what your opinion may be, Mrs. Weston," said Mr. Knightley, "of +this great intimacy between Emma and Harriet Smith, but I think it a bad thing." + +"A bad thing! Do you really think it a bad thing?--why so?" + +"I think they will neither of them do the other any good." + +"You surprize me! Emma must do Harriet good: and by supplying her +with a new object of interest, Harriet may be said to do Emma good. +I have been seeing their intimacy with the greatest pleasure. +How very differently we feel!--Not think they will do each other any +good! This will certainly be the beginning of one of our quarrels +about Emma, Mr. Knightley." + +"Perhaps you think I am come on purpose to quarrel with you, +knowing Weston to be out, and that you must still fight your own battle." + +"Mr. Weston would undoubtedly support me, if he were here, +for he thinks exactly as I do on the subject. We were speaking +of it only yesterday, and agreeing how fortunate it was for Emma, +that there should be such a girl in Highbury for her to associate with. +Mr. Knightley, I shall not allow you to be a fair judge in this case. +You are so much used to live alone, that you do not know the value +of a companion; and, perhaps no man can be a good judge of the comfort +a woman feels in the society of one of her own sex, after being used +to it all her life. I can imagine your objection to Harriet Smith. +She is not the superior young woman which Emma's friend ought to be. +But on the other hand, as Emma wants to see her better informed, +it will be an inducement to her to read more herself. They will +read together. She means it, I know." + +"Emma has been meaning to read more ever since she was twelve +years old. I have seen a great many lists of her drawing-up at +various times of books that she meant to read regularly through--and +very good lists they were--very well chosen, and very neatly +arranged--sometimes alphabetically, and sometimes by some other rule. +The list she drew up when only fourteen--I remember thinking it +did her judgment so much credit, that I preserved it some time; +and I dare say she may have made out a very good list now. But I +have done with expecting any course of steady reading from Emma. +She will never submit to any thing requiring industry and patience, +and a subjection of the fancy to the understanding. Where Miss Taylor +failed to stimulate, I may safely affirm that Harriet Smith will do +nothing.--You never could persuade her to read half so much as you +wished.--You know you could not." + +"I dare say," replied Mrs. Weston, smiling, "that I thought +so _then_;--but since we have parted, I can never remember Emma's +omitting to do any thing I wished." + +"There is hardly any desiring to refresh such a memory as _that_,"--said +Mr. Knightley, feelingly; and for a moment or two he had done. "But I," +he soon added, "who have had no such charm thrown over my senses, +must still see, hear, and remember. Emma is spoiled by being the +cleverest of her family. At ten years old, she had the misfortune of +being able to answer questions which puzzled her sister at seventeen. +She was always quick and assured: Isabella slow and diffident. +And ever since she was twelve, Emma has been mistress of the house +and of you all. In her mother she lost the only person able to cope +with her. She inherits her mother's talents, and must have been +under subjection to her." + +"I should have been sorry, Mr. Knightley, to be dependent on +_your_ recommendation, had I quitted Mr. Woodhouse's family and wanted +another situation; I do not think you would have spoken a good word for +me to any body. I am sure you always thought me unfit for the office I held." + +"Yes," said he, smiling. "You are better placed _here_; very fit +for a wife, but not at all for a governess. But you were preparing +yourself to be an excellent wife all the time you were at Hartfield. +You might not give Emma such a complete education as your powers would +seem to promise; but you were receiving a very good education from _her_, +on the very material matrimonial point of submitting your own will, +and doing as you were bid; and if Weston had asked me to recommend +him a wife, I should certainly have named Miss Taylor." + +"Thank you. There will be very little merit in making a good wife +to such a man as Mr. Weston." + +"Why, to own the truth, I am afraid you are rather thrown away, +and that with every disposition to bear, there will be nothing +to be borne. We will not despair, however. Weston may grow cross +from the wantonness of comfort, or his son may plague him." + +"I hope not _that_.--It is not likely. No, Mr. Knightley, do not +foretell vexation from that quarter." + +"Not I, indeed. I only name possibilities. I do not pretend to Emma's +genius for foretelling and guessing. I hope, with all my heart, +the young man may be a Weston in merit, and a Churchill in fortune.--But +Harriet Smith--I have not half done about Harriet Smith. I think +her the very worst sort of companion that Emma could possibly have. +She knows nothing herself, and looks upon Emma as knowing every thing. +She is a flatterer in all her ways; and so much the worse, +because undesigned. Her ignorance is hourly flattery. How can +Emma imagine she has any thing to learn herself, while Harriet +is presenting such a delightful inferiority? And as for Harriet, +I will venture to say that _she_ cannot gain by the acquaintance. +Hartfield will only put her out of conceit with all the other places +she belongs to. She will grow just refined enough to be uncomfortable +with those among whom birth and circumstances have placed her home. +I am much mistaken if Emma's doctrines give any strength of mind, +or tend at all to make a girl adapt herself rationally to the varieties +of her situation in life.--They only give a little polish." + +"I either depend more upon Emma's good sense than you do, or am more +anxious for her present comfort; for I cannot lament the acquaintance. +How well she looked last night!" + +"Oh! you would rather talk of her person than her mind, would you? +Very well; I shall not attempt to deny Emma's being pretty." + +"Pretty! say beautiful rather. Can you imagine any thing nearer +perfect beauty than Emma altogether--face and figure?" + +"I do not know what I could imagine, but I confess that I have +seldom seen a face or figure more pleasing to me than hers. +But I am a partial old friend." + +"Such an eye!--the true hazle eye--and so brilliant! regular features, +open countenance, with a complexion! oh! what a bloom of full health, +and such a pretty height and size; such a firm and upright figure! +There is health, not merely in her bloom, but in her air, her head, +her glance. One hears sometimes of a child being `the picture +of health;' now, Emma always gives me the idea of being the complete +picture of grown-up health. She is loveliness itself. Mr. Knightley, +is not she?" + +"I have not a fault to find with her person," he replied. +"I think her all you describe. I love to look at her; and I +will add this praise, that I do not think her personally vain. +Considering how very handsome she is, she appears to be little +occupied with it; her vanity lies another way. Mrs. Weston, I am +not to be talked out of my dislike of Harriet Smith, or my dread +of its doing them both harm." + +"And I, Mr. Knightley, am equally stout in my confidence of its +not doing them any harm. With all dear Emma's little faults, +she is an excellent creature. Where shall we see a better daughter, +or a kinder sister, or a truer friend? No, no; she has qualities +which may be trusted; she will never lead any one really wrong; +she will make no lasting blunder; where Emma errs once, she is in the +right a hundred times." + +"Very well; I will not plague you any more. Emma shall be an angel, +and I will keep my spleen to myself till Christmas brings John +and Isabella. John loves Emma with a reasonable and therefore +not a blind affection, and Isabella always thinks as he does; +except when he is not quite frightened enough about the children. +I am sure of having their opinions with me." + +"I know that you all love her really too well to be unjust or unkind; +but excuse me, Mr. Knightley, if I take the liberty (I consider myself, +you know, as having somewhat of the privilege of speech that Emma's +mother might have had) the liberty of hinting that I do not think +any possible good can arise from Harriet Smith's intimacy being made +a matter of much discussion among you. Pray excuse me; but supposing +any little inconvenience may be apprehended from the intimacy, +it cannot be expected that Emma, accountable to nobody but her father, +who perfectly approves the acquaintance, should put an end to it, +so long as it is a source of pleasure to herself. It has been so +many years my province to give advice, that you cannot be surprized, +Mr. Knightley, at this little remains of office." + +"Not at all," cried he; "I am much obliged to you for it. +It is very good advice, and it shall have a better fate than your +advice has often found; for it shall be attended to." + +"Mrs. John Knightley is easily alarmed, and might be made unhappy +about her sister." + +"Be satisfied," said he, "I will not raise any outcry. I will keep +my ill-humour to myself. I have a very sincere interest in Emma. +Isabella does not seem more my sister; has never excited a +greater interest; perhaps hardly so great. There is an anxiety, +a curiosity in what one feels for Emma. I wonder what will become +of her!" + +"So do I," said Mrs. Weston gently, "very much." + +"She always declares she will never marry, which, of course, +means just nothing at all. But I have no idea that she has yet +ever seen a man she cared for. It would not be a bad thing for her +to be very much in love with a proper object. I should like to see +Emma in love, and in some doubt of a return; it would do her good. +But there is nobody hereabouts to attach her; and she goes so seldom +from home." + +"There does, indeed, seem as little to tempt her to break +her resolution at present," said Mrs. Weston, "as can well be; +and while she is so happy at Hartfield, I cannot wish her to be +forming any attachment which would be creating such difficulties +on poor Mr. Woodhouse's account. I do not recommend matrimony +at present to Emma, though I mean no slight to the state, I assure you." + +Part of her meaning was to conceal some favourite thoughts of +her own and Mr. Weston's on the subject, as much as possible. +There were wishes at Randalls respecting Emma's destiny, but it +was not desirable to have them suspected; and the quiet transition +which Mr. Knightley soon afterwards made to "What does Weston +think of the weather; shall we have rain?" convinced her that he +had nothing more to say or surmise about Hartfield. + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Emma could not feel a doubt of having given Harriet's fancy +a proper direction and raised the gratitude of her young vanity +to a very good purpose, for she found her decidedly more sensible +than before of Mr. Elton's being a remarkably handsome man, with most +agreeable manners; and as she had no hesitation in following up +the assurance of his admiration by agreeable hints, she was soon +pretty confident of creating as much liking on Harriet's side, +as there could be any occasion for. She was quite convinced +of Mr. Elton's being in the fairest way of falling in love, +if not in love already. She had no scruple with regard to him. +He talked of Harriet, and praised her so warmly, that she could +not suppose any thing wanting which a little time would not add. +His perception of the striking improvement of Harriet's manner, +since her introduction at Hartfield, was not one of the least +agreeable proofs of his growing attachment. + +"You have given Miss Smith all that she required," said he; +"you have made her graceful and easy. She was a beautiful creature +when she came to you, but, in my opinion, the attractions you have +added are infinitely superior to what she received from nature." + +"I am glad you think I have been useful to her; but Harriet +only wanted drawing out, and receiving a few, very few hints. +She had all the natural grace of sweetness of temper and artlessness +in herself. I have done very little." + +"If it were admissible to contradict a lady," said the gallant +Mr. Elton-- + +"I have perhaps given her a little more decision of character, +have taught her to think on points which had not fallen in her +way before." + +"Exactly so; that is what principally strikes me. So much superadded +decision of character! Skilful has been the hand!" + +"Great has been the pleasure, I am sure. I never met with +a disposition more truly amiable." + +"I have no doubt of it." And it was spoken with a sort +of sighing animation, which had a vast deal of the lover. +She was not less pleased another day with the manner +in which he seconded a sudden wish of hers, to have Harriet's picture. + +"Did you ever have your likeness taken, Harriet?" said she: "did +you ever sit for your picture?" + +Harriet was on the point of leaving the room, and only stopt to say, +with a very interesting naivete, + +"Oh! dear, no, never." + +No sooner was she out of sight, than Emma exclaimed, + +"What an exquisite possession a good picture of her would be! I would +give any money for it. I almost long to attempt her likeness myself. +You do not know it I dare say, but two or three years ago I had +a great passion for taking likenesses, and attempted several of +my friends, and was thought to have a tolerable eye in general. +But from one cause or another, I gave it up in disgust. +But really, I could almost venture, if Harriet would sit to me. +It would be such a delight to have her picture!" + +"Let me entreat you," cried Mr. Elton; "it would indeed be a delight! +Let me entreat you, Miss Woodhouse, to exercise so charming a +talent in favour of your friend. I know what your drawings are. +How could you suppose me ignorant? Is not this room rich in +specimens of your landscapes and flowers; and has not Mrs. Weston +some inimitable figure-pieces in her drawing-room, at Randalls?" + +Yes, good man!--thought Emma--but what has all that to do with taking +likenesses? You know nothing of drawing. Don't pretend to be +in raptures about mine. Keep your raptures for Harriet's face. +"Well, if you give me such kind encouragement, Mr. Elton, I believe +I shall try what I can do. Harriet's features are very delicate, +which makes a likeness difficult; and yet there is a peculiarity +in the shape of the eye and the lines about the mouth which one ought +to catch." + +"Exactly so--The shape of the eye and the lines about the mouth--I +have not a doubt of your success. Pray, pray attempt it. +As you will do it, it will indeed, to use your own words, +be an exquisite possession." + +"But I am afraid, Mr. Elton, Harriet will not like to sit. +She thinks so little of her own beauty. Did not you observe her +manner of answering me? How completely it meant, `why should my +picture be drawn?'" + +"Oh! yes, I observed it, I assure you. It was not lost on me. +But still I cannot imagine she would not be persuaded." + +Harriet was soon back again, and the proposal almost immediately made; +and she had no scruples which could stand many minutes against the earnest +pressing of both the others. Emma wished to go to work directly, +and therefore produced the portfolio containing her various attempts +at portraits, for not one of them had ever been finished, that they +might decide together on the best size for Harriet. Her many +beginnings were displayed. Miniatures, half-lengths, whole-lengths, +pencil, crayon, and water-colours had been all tried in turn. +She had always wanted to do every thing, and had made more progress +both in drawing and music than many might have done with so little +labour as she would ever submit to. She played and sang;--and drew +in almost every style; but steadiness had always been wanting; +and in nothing had she approached the degree of excellence which she +would have been glad to command, and ought not to have failed of. +She was not much deceived as to her own skill either as an artist +or a musician, but she was not unwilling to have others deceived, +or sorry to know her reputation for accomplishment often higher +than it deserved. + +There was merit in every drawing--in the least finished, perhaps the most; +her style was spirited; but had there been much less, or had there +been ten times more, the delight and admiration of her two companions +would have been the same. They were both in ecstasies. A likeness +pleases every body; and Miss Woodhouse's performances must be capital. + +"No great variety of faces for you," said Emma. "I had only my +own family to study from. There is my father--another of my +father--but the idea of sitting for his picture made him so nervous, +that I could only take him by stealth; neither of them very +like therefore. Mrs. Weston again, and again, and again, you see. +Dear Mrs. Weston! always my kindest friend on every occasion. +She would sit whenever I asked her. There is my sister; and really +quite her own little elegant figure!--and the face not unlike. +I should have made a good likeness of her, if she would have +sat longer, but she was in such a hurry to have me draw her four +children that she would not be quiet. Then, here come all my +attempts at three of those four children;--there they are, +Henry and John and Bella, from one end of the sheet to the other, +and any one of them might do for any one of the rest. She was so +eager to have them drawn that I could not refuse; but there is no +making children of three or four years old stand still you know; +nor can it be very easy to take any likeness of them, beyond the +air and complexion, unless they are coarser featured than any +of mama's children ever were. Here is my sketch of the fourth, +who was a baby. I took him as he was sleeping on the sofa, and it +is as strong a likeness of his cockade as you would wish to see. +He had nestled down his head most conveniently. That's very like. +I am rather proud of little George. The corner of the sofa is very good. +Then here is my last,"--unclosing a pretty sketch of a gentleman +in small size, whole-length--"my last and my best--my brother, +Mr. John Knightley.--This did not want much of being finished, when I +put it away in a pet, and vowed I would never take another likeness. +I could not help being provoked; for after all my pains, and when I +had really made a very good likeness of it--(Mrs. Weston and I +were quite agreed in thinking it _very_ like)--only too handsome--too +flattering--but that was a fault on the right side--after +all this, came poor dear Isabella's cold approbation of--"Yes, +it was a little like--but to be sure it did not do him justice." +We had had a great deal of trouble in persuading him to sit at all. +It was made a great favour of; and altogether it was more than I +could bear; and so I never would finish it, to have it apologised +over as an unfavourable likeness, to every morning visitor in +Brunswick Square;--and, as I said, I did then forswear ever drawing +any body again. But for Harriet's sake, or rather for my own, +and as there are no husbands and wives in the case _at_ _present_, +I will break my resolution now." + +Mr. Elton seemed very properly struck and delighted by the idea, +and was repeating, "No husbands and wives in the case at present +indeed, as you observe. Exactly so. No husbands and wives," +with so interesting a consciousness, that Emma began to consider +whether she had not better leave them together at once. But as she +wanted to be drawing, the declaration must wait a little longer. + +She had soon fixed on the size and sort of portrait. +It was to be a whole-length in water-colours, like Mr. John +Knightley's, and was destined, if she could please herself, +to hold a very honourable station over the mantelpiece. + +The sitting began; and Harriet, smiling and blushing, and afraid +of not keeping her attitude and countenance, presented a very sweet +mixture of youthful expression to the steady eyes of the artist. +But there was no doing any thing, with Mr. Elton fidgeting behind +her and watching every touch. She gave him credit for stationing +himself where he might gaze and gaze again without offence; +but was really obliged to put an end to it, and request him to +place himself elsewhere. It then occurred to her to employ him +in reading. + +"If he would be so good as to read to them, it would be a kindness +indeed! It would amuse away the difficulties of her part, and lessen +the irksomeness of Miss Smith's." + +Mr. Elton was only too happy. Harriet listened, and Emma drew +in peace. She must allow him to be still frequently coming to look; +any thing less would certainly have been too little in a lover; +and he was ready at the smallest intermission of the pencil, +to jump up and see the progress, and be charmed.--There was no +being displeased with such an encourager, for his admiration +made him discern a likeness almost before it was possible. +She could not respect his eye, but his love and his complaisance +were unexceptionable. + +The sitting was altogether very satisfactory; she was quite +enough pleased with the first day's sketch to wish to go on. +There was no want of likeness, she had been fortunate in the attitude, +and as she meant to throw in a little improvement to the figure, +to give a little more height, and considerably more elegance, she had +great confidence of its being in every way a pretty drawing at last, +and of its filling its destined place with credit to them both--a +standing memorial of the beauty of one, the skill of the other, +and the friendship of both; with as many other agreeable associations +as Mr. Elton's very promising attachment was likely to add. + +Harriet was to sit again the next day; and Mr. Elton, just as he ought, +entreated for the permission of attending and reading to them again. + +"By all means. We shall be most happy to consider you as one +of the party." + +The same civilities and courtesies, the same success and satisfaction, +took place on the morrow, and accompanied the whole progress +of the picture, which was rapid and happy. Every body who saw it +was pleased, but Mr. Elton was in continual raptures, and defended +it through every criticism. + +"Miss Woodhouse has given her friend the only beauty she +wanted,"--observed Mrs. Weston to him--not in the least suspecting +that she was addressing a lover.--"The expression of the eye is +most correct, but Miss Smith has not those eyebrows and eyelashes. +It is the fault of her face that she has them not." + +"Do you think so?" replied he. "I cannot agree with you. +It appears to me a most perfect resemblance in every feature. +I never saw such a likeness in my life. We must allow for the effect +of shade, you know." + +"You have made her too tall, Emma," said Mr. Knightley. + +Emma knew that she had, but would not own it; and Mr. Elton warmly added, + +"Oh no! certainly not too tall; not in the least too tall. Consider, +she is sitting down--which naturally presents a different--which +in short gives exactly the idea--and the proportions must +be preserved, you know. Proportions, fore-shortening.--Oh no! it +gives one exactly the idea of such a height as Miss Smith's. Exactly so indeed!" + +"It is very pretty," said Mr. Woodhouse. "So prettily done! Just +as your drawings always are, my dear. I do not know any body who draws +so well as you do. The only thing I do not thoroughly like is, +that she seems to be sitting out of doors, with only a little shawl +over her shoulders--and it makes one think she must catch cold." + +"But, my dear papa, it is supposed to be summer; a warm day in summer. +Look at the tree." + +"But it is never safe to sit out of doors, my dear." + +"You, sir, may say any thing," cried Mr. Elton, "but I must confess +that I regard it as a most happy thought, the placing of Miss +Smith out of doors; and the tree is touched with such inimitable +spirit! Any other situation would have been much less in character. +The naivete of Miss Smith's manners--and altogether--Oh, it is +most admirable! I cannot keep my eyes from it. I never saw such +a likeness." + +The next thing wanted was to get the picture framed; and here were a +few difficulties. It must be done directly; it must be done in London; +the order must go through the hands of some intelligent person whose taste +could be depended on; and Isabella, the usual doer of all commissions, +must not be applied to, because it was December, and Mr. Woodhouse +could not bear the idea of her stirring out of her house in the fogs +of December. But no sooner was the distress known to Mr. Elton, +than it was removed. His gallantry was always on the alert. +"Might he be trusted with the commission, what infinite pleasure +should he have in executing it! he could ride to London at any time. +It was impossible to say how much he should be gratified by being +employed on such an errand." + +"He was too good!--she could not endure the thought!--she would +not give him such a troublesome office for the world,"--brought +on the desired repetition of entreaties and assurances,--and +a very few minutes settled the business. + +Mr. Elton was to take the drawing to London, chuse the frame, +and give the directions; and Emma thought she could so pack it +as to ensure its safety without much incommoding him, while he +seemed mostly fearful of not being incommoded enough. + +"What a precious deposit!" said he with a tender sigh, as he +received it. + +"This man is almost too gallant to be in love," thought Emma. +"I should say so, but that I suppose there may be a hundred different +ways of being in love. He is an excellent young man, and will suit +Harriet exactly; it will be an `Exactly so,' as he says himself; +but he does sigh and languish, and study for compliments rather more +than I could endure as a principal. I come in for a pretty good +share as a second. But it is his gratitude on Harriet's account." + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +The very day of Mr. Elton's going to London produced a fresh occasion +for Emma's services towards her friend. Harriet had been at Hartfield, +as usual, soon after breakfast; and, after a time, had gone home +to return again to dinner: she returned, and sooner than had been +talked of, and with an agitated, hurried look, announcing something +extraordinary to have happened which she was longing to tell. +Half a minute brought it all out. She had heard, as soon as she got +back to Mrs. Goddard's, that Mr. Martin had been there an hour before, +and finding she was not at home, nor particularly expected, had left +a little parcel for her from one of his sisters, and gone away; +and on opening this parcel, she had actually found, besides the two +songs which she had lent Elizabeth to copy, a letter to herself; +and this letter was from him, from Mr. Martin, and contained a direct +proposal of marriage. "Who could have thought it? She was so surprized +she did not know what to do. Yes, quite a proposal of marriage; +and a very good letter, at least she thought so. And he wrote +as if he really loved her very much--but she did not know--and so, +she was come as fast as she could to ask Miss Woodhouse what she +should do.--" Emma was half-ashamed of her friend for seeming so +pleased and so doubtful. + +"Upon my word," she cried, "the young man is determined not to lose +any thing for want of asking. He will connect himself well if he can." + +"Will you read the letter?" cried Harriet. "Pray do. I'd rather +you would." + +Emma was not sorry to be pressed. She read, and was surprized. +The style of the letter was much above her expectation. +There were not merely no grammatical errors, but as a composition it +would not have disgraced a gentleman; the language, though plain, +was strong and unaffected, and the sentiments it conveyed very much +to the credit of the writer. It was short, but expressed good sense, +warm attachment, liberality, propriety, even delicacy of feeling. +She paused over it, while Harriet stood anxiously watching for +her opinion, with a "Well, well," and was at last forced to add, +"Is it a good letter? or is it too short?" + +"Yes, indeed, a very good letter," replied Emma rather slowly--"so +good a letter, Harriet, that every thing considered, I think one of +his sisters must have helped him. I can hardly imagine the young +man whom I saw talking with you the other day could express himself +so well, if left quite to his own powers, and yet it is not the +style of a woman; no, certainly, it is too strong and concise; +not diffuse enough for a woman. No doubt he is a sensible man, +and I suppose may have a natural talent for--thinks strongly and +clearly--and when he takes a pen in hand, his thoughts naturally find +proper words. It is so with some men. Yes, I understand the sort +of mind. Vigorous, decided, with sentiments to a certain point, +not coarse. A better written letter, Harriet (returning it,) +than I had expected." + +"Well," said the still waiting Harriet;--"well--and--and what +shall I do?" + +"What shall you do! In what respect? Do you mean with regard +to this letter?" + +"Yes." + +"But what are you in doubt of? You must answer it of course--and speedily." + +"Yes. But what shall I say? Dear Miss Woodhouse, do advise me." + +"Oh no, no! the letter had much better be all your own. You will +express yourself very properly, I am sure. There is no danger of your +not being intelligible, which is the first thing. Your meaning must +be unequivocal; no doubts or demurs: and such expressions of gratitude +and concern for the pain you are inflicting as propriety requires, +will present themselves unbidden to _your_ mind, I am persuaded. +You need not be prompted to write with the appearance of sorrow +for his disappointment." + +"You think I ought to refuse him then," said Harriet, looking down. + +"Ought to refuse him! My dear Harriet, what do you mean? Are you +in any doubt as to that? I thought--but I beg your pardon, perhaps I +have been under a mistake. I certainly have been misunderstanding +you, if you feel in doubt as to the _purport_ of your answer. +I had imagined you were consulting me only as to the wording of it." + +Harriet was silent. With a little reserve of manner, Emma continued: + +"You mean to return a favourable answer, I collect." + +"No, I do not; that is, I do not mean--What shall I do? What would +you advise me to do? Pray, dear Miss Woodhouse, tell me what I +ought to do." + +"I shall not give you any advice, Harriet. I will have nothing to +do with it. This is a point which you must settle with your feelings." + +"I had no notion that he liked me so very much," said Harriet, +contemplating the letter. For a little while Emma persevered +in her silence; but beginning to apprehend the bewitching flattery +of that letter might be too powerful, she thought it best to say, + +"I lay it down as a general rule, Harriet, that if a woman _doubts_ +as to whether she should accept a man or not, she certainly ought +to refuse him. If she can hesitate as to `Yes,' she ought to say +`No' directly. It is not a state to be safely entered into +with doubtful feelings, with half a heart. I thought it my duty +as a friend, and older than yourself, to say thus much to you. +But do not imagine that I want to influence you." + +"Oh! no, I am sure you are a great deal too kind to--but if you +would just advise me what I had best do--No, no, I do not mean +that--As you say, one's mind ought to be quite made up--One should +not be hesitating--It is a very serious thing.--It will be safer +to say `No,' perhaps.--Do you think I had better say `No?'" + +"Not for the world," said Emma, smiling graciously, "would I advise +you either way. You must be the best judge of your own happiness. +If you prefer Mr. Martin to every other person; if you think him +the most agreeable man you have ever been in company with, why should +you hesitate? You blush, Harriet.--Does any body else occur to you +at this moment under such a definition? Harriet, Harriet, do not +deceive yourself; do not be run away with by gratitude and compassion. +At this moment whom are you thinking of?" + +The symptoms were favourable.--Instead of answering, Harriet turned +away confused, and stood thoughtfully by the fire; and though +the letter was still in her hand, it was now mechanically twisted +about without regard. Emma waited the result with impatience, +but not without strong hopes. At last, with some hesitation, +Harriet said-- + +"Miss Woodhouse, as you will not give me your opinion, I must +do as well as I can by myself; and I have now quite determined, +and really almost made up my mind--to refuse Mr. Martin. Do you +think I am right?" + +"Perfectly, perfectly right, my dearest Harriet; you are doing just +what you ought. While you were at all in suspense I kept my feelings +to myself, but now that you are so completely decided I have no +hesitation in approving. Dear Harriet, I give myself joy of this. +It would have grieved me to lose your acquaintance, which must have +been the consequence of your marrying Mr. Martin. While you were in +the smallest degree wavering, I said nothing about it, because I would +not influence; but it would have been the loss of a friend to me. +I could not have visited Mrs. Robert Martin, of Abbey-Mill Farm. +Now I am secure of you for ever." + +Harriet had not surmised her own danger, but the idea of it struck +her forcibly. + +"You could not have visited me!" she cried, looking aghast. +"No, to be sure you could not; but I never thought of that before. +That would have been too dreadful!--What an escape!--Dear Miss Woodhouse, +I would not give up the pleasure and honour of being intimate with you +for any thing in the world." + +"Indeed, Harriet, it would have been a severe pang to lose you; +but it must have been. You would have thrown yourself out of all +good society. I must have given you up." + +"Dear me!--How should I ever have borne it! It would have killed +me never to come to Hartfield any more!" + +"Dear affectionate creature!--_You_ banished to Abbey-Mill Farm!--_You_ +confined to the society of the illiterate and vulgar all your life! +I wonder how the young man could have the assurance to ask it. +He must have a pretty good opinion of himself." + +"I do not think he is conceited either, in general," said Harriet, +her conscience opposing such censure; "at least, he is very good natured, +and I shall always feel much obliged to him, and have a great regard +for--but that is quite a different thing from--and you know, +though he may like me, it does not follow that I should--and +certainly I must confess that since my visiting here I have seen +people--and if one comes to compare them, person and manners, +there is no comparison at all, _one_ is so very handsome and agreeable. +However, I do really think Mr. Martin a very amiable young man, +and have a great opinion of him; and his being so much attached +to me--and his writing such a letter--but as to leaving you, +it is what I would not do upon any consideration." + +"Thank you, thank you, my own sweet little friend. We will not +be parted. A woman is not to marry a man merely because she is asked, +or because he is attached to her, and can write a tolerable letter." + +"Oh no;--and it is but a short letter too." + +Emma felt the bad taste of her friend, but let it pass with a +"very true; and it would be a small consolation to her, for the +clownish manner which might be offending her every hour of the day, +to know that her husband could write a good letter." + +"Oh! yes, very. Nobody cares for a letter; the thing is, to be always +happy with pleasant companions. I am quite determined to refuse him. +But how shall I do? What shall I say?" + +Emma assured her there would be no difficulty in the answer, +and advised its being written directly, which was agreed to, +in the hope of her assistance; and though Emma continued to protest +against any assistance being wanted, it was in fact given in the +formation of every sentence. The looking over his letter again, +in replying to it, had such a softening tendency, that it was +particularly necessary to brace her up with a few decisive expressions; +and she was so very much concerned at the idea of making him unhappy, +and thought so much of what his mother and sisters would think and say, +and was so anxious that they should not fancy her ungrateful, +that Emma believed if the young man had come in her way at that moment, +he would have been accepted after all. + +This letter, however, was written, and sealed, and sent. +The business was finished, and Harriet safe. She was rather low +all the evening, but Emma could allow for her amiable regrets, +and sometimes relieved them by speaking of her own affection, +sometimes by bringing forward the idea of Mr. Elton. + +"I shall never be invited to Abbey-Mill again," was said in rather +a sorrowful tone. + +"Nor, if you were, could I ever bear to part with you, my Harriet. +You are a great deal too necessary at Hartfield to be spared +to Abbey-Mill." + +"And I am sure I should never want to go there; for I am never happy +but at Hartfield." + +Some time afterwards it was, "I think Mrs. Goddard would be very +much surprized if she knew what had happened. I am sure Miss Nash +would--for Miss Nash thinks her own sister very well married, +and it is only a linen-draper." + +"One should be sorry to see greater pride or refinement in the +teacher of a school, Harriet. I dare say Miss Nash would envy you +such an opportunity as this of being married. Even this conquest +would appear valuable in her eyes. As to any thing superior for you, +I suppose she is quite in the dark. The attentions of a certain +person can hardly be among the tittle-tattle of Highbury yet. +Hitherto I fancy you and I are the only people to whom his looks +and manners have explained themselves." + +Harriet blushed and smiled, and said something about wondering +that people should like her so much. The idea of Mr. Elton was +certainly cheering; but still, after a time, she was tender-hearted +again towards the rejected Mr. Martin. + +"Now he has got my letter," said she softly. "I wonder what they +are all doing--whether his sisters know--if he is unhappy, +they will be unhappy too. I hope he will not mind it so very much." + +"Let us think of those among our absent friends who are more +cheerfully employed," cried Emma. "At this moment, perhaps, Mr. Elton +is shewing your picture to his mother and sisters, telling how much +more beautiful is the original, and after being asked for it five +or six times, allowing them to hear your name, your own dear name." + +"My picture!--But he has left my picture in Bond-street." + +"Has he so!--Then I know nothing of Mr. Elton. No, my dear +little modest Harriet, depend upon it the picture will not be +in Bond-street till just before he mounts his horse to-morrow. +It is his companion all this evening, his solace, his delight. +It opens his designs to his family, it introduces you among them, +it diffuses through the party those pleasantest feelings of our nature, +eager curiosity and warm prepossession. How cheerful, how animated, +how suspicious, how busy their imaginations all are!" + +Harriet smiled again, and her smiles grew stronger. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Harriet slept at Hartfield that night. For some weeks past she +had been spending more than half her time there, and gradually +getting to have a bed-room appropriated to herself; and Emma +judged it best in every respect, safest and kindest, to keep her +with them as much as possible just at present. She was obliged +to go the next morning for an hour or two to Mrs. Goddard's, +but it was then to be settled that she should return to Hartfield, +to make a regular visit of some days. + +While she was gone, Mr. Knightley called, and sat some time with +Mr. Woodhouse and Emma, till Mr. Woodhouse, who had previously made up +his mind to walk out, was persuaded by his daughter not to defer it, +and was induced by the entreaties of both, though against the scruples +of his own civility, to leave Mr. Knightley for that purpose. +Mr. Knightley, who had nothing of ceremony about him, was offering +by his short, decided answers, an amusing contrast to the protracted +apologies and civil hesitations of the other. + +"Well, I believe, if you will excuse me, Mr. Knightley, if you +will not consider me as doing a very rude thing, I shall take +Emma's advice and go out for a quarter of an hour. As the sun +is out, I believe I had better take my three turns while I can. +I treat you without ceremony, Mr. Knightley. We invalids think we +are privileged people." + +"My dear sir, do not make a stranger of me." + +"I leave an excellent substitute in my daughter. Emma will be happy +to entertain you. And therefore I think I will beg your excuse +and take my three turns--my winter walk." + +"You cannot do better, sir." + +"I would ask for the pleasure of your company, Mr. Knightley, +but I am a very slow walker, and my pace would be tedious to you; +and, besides, you have another long walk before you, to Donwell Abbey." + +"Thank you, sir, thank you; I am going this moment myself; and I +think the sooner _you_ go the better. I will fetch your greatcoat +and open the garden door for you." + +Mr. Woodhouse at last was off; but Mr. Knightley, instead of being +immediately off likewise, sat down again, seemingly inclined +for more chat. He began speaking of Harriet, and speaking +of her with more voluntary praise than Emma had ever heard before. + +"I cannot rate her beauty as you do," said he; "but she is a +pretty little creature, and I am inclined to think very well of +her disposition. Her character depends upon those she is with; +but in good hands she will turn out a valuable woman." + +"I am glad you think so; and the good hands, I hope, may not be wanting." + +"Come," said he, "you are anxious for a compliment, so I will +tell you that you have improved her. You have cured her of her +school-girl's giggle; she really does you credit." + +"Thank you. I should be mortified indeed if I did not believe I +had been of some use; but it is not every body who will bestow +praise where they may. _You_ do not often overpower me with it." + +"You are expecting her again, you say, this morning?" + +"Almost every moment. She has been gone longer already than +she intended." + +"Something has happened to delay her; some visitors perhaps." + +"Highbury gossips!--Tiresome wretches!" + +"Harriet may not consider every body tiresome that you would." + +Emma knew this was too true for contradiction, and therefore +said nothing. He presently added, with a smile, + +"I do not pretend to fix on times or places, but I must tell you +that I have good reason to believe your little friend will soon +hear of something to her advantage." + +"Indeed! how so? of what sort?" + +"A very serious sort, I assure you;" still smiling. + +"Very serious! I can think of but one thing--Who is in love +with her? Who makes you their confidant?" + +Emma was more than half in hopes of Mr. Elton's having dropt a hint. +Mr. Knightley was a sort of general friend and adviser, and she knew +Mr. Elton looked up to him. + +"I have reason to think," he replied, "that Harriet Smith will +soon have an offer of marriage, and from a most unexceptionable +quarter:--Robert Martin is the man. Her visit to Abbey-Mill, +this summer, seems to have done his business. He is desperately +in love and means to marry her." + +"He is very obliging," said Emma; "but is he sure that Harriet +means to marry him?" + +"Well, well, means to make her an offer then. Will that do? He came +to the Abbey two evenings ago, on purpose to consult me about it. +He knows I have a thorough regard for him and all his family, and, +I believe, considers me as one of his best friends. He came to ask +me whether I thought it would be imprudent in him to settle so early; +whether I thought her too young: in short, whether I approved his +choice altogether; having some apprehension perhaps of her being +considered (especially since _your_ making so much of her) as in a line +of society above him. I was very much pleased with all that he said. +I never hear better sense from any one than Robert Martin. +He always speaks to the purpose; open, straightforward, and very +well judging. He told me every thing; his circumstances and plans, +and what they all proposed doing in the event of his marriage. He is +an excellent young man, both as son and brother. I had no hesitation +in advising him to marry. He proved to me that he could afford it; +and that being the case, I was convinced he could not do better. +I praised the fair lady too, and altogether sent him away very happy. +If he had never esteemed my opinion before, he would have thought +highly of me then; and, I dare say, left the house thinking me the +best friend and counsellor man ever had. This happened the night +before last. Now, as we may fairly suppose, he would not allow +much time to pass before he spoke to the lady, and as he does not +appear to have spoken yesterday, it is not unlikely that he should +be at Mrs. Goddard's to-day; and she may be detained by a visitor, +without thinking him at all a tiresome wretch." + +"Pray, Mr. Knightley," said Emma, who had been smiling to herself +through a great part of this speech, "how do you know that Mr. Martin +did not speak yesterday?" + +"Certainly," replied he, surprized, "I do not absolutely know it; +but it may be inferred. Was not she the whole day with you?" + +"Come," said she, "I will tell you something, in return for what +you have told me. He did speak yesterday--that is, he wrote, +and was refused." + +This was obliged to be repeated before it could be believed; +and Mr. Knightley actually looked red with surprize and displeasure, +as he stood up, in tall indignation, and said, + +"Then she is a greater simpleton than I ever believed her. +What is the foolish girl about?" + +"Oh! to be sure," cried Emma, "it is always incomprehensible +to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. +A man always imagines a woman to be ready for any body who asks her." + +"Nonsense! a man does not imagine any such thing. But what is +the meaning of this? Harriet Smith refuse Robert Martin? madness, +if it is so; but I hope you are mistaken." + +"I saw her answer!--nothing could be clearer." + +"You saw her answer!--you wrote her answer too. Emma, this is +your doing. You persuaded her to refuse him." + +"And if I did, (which, however, I am far from allowing) I should +not feel that I had done wrong. Mr. Martin is a very respectable +young man, but I cannot admit him to be Harriet's equal; and am +rather surprized indeed that he should have ventured to address her. +By your account, he does seem to have had some scruples. It is +a pity that they were ever got over." + +"Not Harriet's equal!" exclaimed Mr. Knightley loudly and warmly; +and with calmer asperity, added, a few moments afterwards, "No, he +is not her equal indeed, for he is as much her superior in sense +as in situation. Emma, your infatuation about that girl blinds you. +What are Harriet Smith's claims, either of birth, nature or education, +to any connexion higher than Robert Martin? She is the natural +daughter of nobody knows whom, with probably no settled provision +at all, and certainly no respectable relations. She is known only +as parlour-boarder at a common school. She is not a sensible girl, +nor a girl of any information. She has been taught nothing useful, +and is too young and too simple to have acquired any thing herself. +At her age she can have no experience, and with her little wit, +is not very likely ever to have any that can avail her. +She is pretty, and she is good tempered, and that is all. +My only scruple in advising the match was on his account, as being +beneath his deserts, and a bad connexion for him. I felt that, +as to fortune, in all probability he might do much better; and that as +to a rational companion or useful helpmate, he could not do worse. +But I could not reason so to a man in love, and was willing +to trust to there being no harm in her, to her having that sort +of disposition, which, in good hands, like his, might be easily led +aright and turn out very well. The advantage of the match I felt +to be all on her side; and had not the smallest doubt (nor have I now) +that there would be a general cry-out upon her extreme good luck. +Even _your_ satisfaction I made sure of. It crossed my mind immediately +that you would not regret your friend's leaving Highbury, for the +sake of her being settled so well. I remember saying to myself, +`Even Emma, with all her partiality for Harriet, will think this a +good match.'" + +"I cannot help wondering at your knowing so little of Emma as to say +any such thing. What! think a farmer, (and with all his sense and all +his merit Mr. Martin is nothing more,) a good match for my intimate +friend! Not regret her leaving Highbury for the sake of marrying +a man whom I could never admit as an acquaintance of my own! I +wonder you should think it possible for me to have such feelings. +I assure you mine are very different. I must think your statement +by no means fair. You are not just to Harriet's claims. +They would be estimated very differently by others as well as myself; +Mr. Martin may be the richest of the two, but he is undoubtedly +her inferior as to rank in society.--The sphere in which she moves +is much above his.--It would be a degradation." + +"A degradation to illegitimacy and ignorance, to be married +to a respectable, intelligent gentleman-farmer!" + +"As to the circumstances of her birth, though in a legal sense +she may be called Nobody, it will not hold in common sense. +She is not to pay for the offence of others, by being held below +the level of those with whom she is brought up.--There can scarcely +be a doubt that her father is a gentleman--and a gentleman of +fortune.--Her allowance is very liberal; nothing has ever been grudged +for her improvement or comfort.--That she is a gentleman's daughter, +is indubitable to me; that she associates with gentlemen's daughters, +no one, I apprehend, will deny.--She is superior to Mr. Robert Martin." + +"Whoever might be her parents," said Mr. Knightley, "whoever may +have had the charge of her, it does not appear to have been any part +of their plan to introduce her into what you would call good society. +After receiving a very indifferent education she is left in +Mrs. Goddard's hands to shift as she can;--to move, in short, +in Mrs. Goddard's line, to have Mrs. Goddard's acquaintance. +Her friends evidently thought this good enough for her; and it _was_ +good enough. She desired nothing better herself. Till you chose +to turn her into a friend, her mind had no distaste for her own set, +nor any ambition beyond it. She was as happy as possible with the +Martins in the summer. She had no sense of superiority then. +If she has it now, you have given it. You have been no friend to +Harriet Smith, Emma. Robert Martin would never have proceeded so far, +if he had not felt persuaded of her not being disinclined to him. +I know him well. He has too much real feeling to address any +woman on the haphazard of selfish passion. And as to conceit, +he is the farthest from it of any man I know. Depend upon it he +had encouragement." + +It was most convenient to Emma not to make a direct reply to this +assertion; she chose rather to take up her own line of the subject again. + +"You are a very warm friend to Mr. Martin; but, as I said before, +are unjust to Harriet. Harriet's claims to marry well are not +so contemptible as you represent them. She is not a clever girl, +but she has better sense than you are aware of, and does not +deserve to have her understanding spoken of so slightingly. +Waiving that point, however, and supposing her to be, as you +describe her, only pretty and good-natured, let me tell you, that in +the degree she possesses them, they are not trivial recommendations +to the world in general, for she is, in fact, a beautiful girl, +and must be thought so by ninety-nine people out of an hundred; +and till it appears that men are much more philosophic on the subject +of beauty than they are generally supposed; till they do fall +in love with well-informed minds instead of handsome faces, a girl, +with such loveliness as Harriet, has a certainty of being admired +and sought after, of having the power of chusing from among many, +consequently a claim to be nice. Her good-nature, too, is not so very +slight a claim, comprehending, as it does, real, thorough sweetness +of temper and manner, a very humble opinion of herself, and a great +readiness to be pleased with other people. I am very much mistaken +if your sex in general would not think such beauty, and such temper, +the highest claims a woman could possess." + +"Upon my word, Emma, to hear you abusing the reason you have, +is almost enough to make me think so too. Better be without sense, +than misapply it as you do." + +"To be sure!" cried she playfully. "I know _that_ is the feeling +of you all. I know that such a girl as Harriet is exactly +what every man delights in--what at once bewitches his senses +and satisfies his judgment. Oh! Harriet may pick and chuse. +Were you, yourself, ever to marry, she is the very woman for you. +And is she, at seventeen, just entering into life, just beginning +to be known, to be wondered at because she does not accept the first +offer she receives? No--pray let her have time to look about her." + +"I have always thought it a very foolish intimacy," said Mr. Knightley +presently, "though I have kept my thoughts to myself; but I now +perceive that it will be a very unfortunate one for Harriet. +You will puff her up with such ideas of her own beauty, and of what +she has a claim to, that, in a little while, nobody within her +reach will be good enough for her. Vanity working on a weak head, +produces every sort of mischief. Nothing so easy as for a young lady +to raise her expectations too high. Miss Harriet Smith may not find +offers of marriage flow in so fast, though she is a very pretty girl. +Men of sense, whatever you may chuse to say, do not want silly wives. +Men of family would not be very fond of connecting themselves +with a girl of such obscurity--and most prudent men would be +afraid of the inconvenience and disgrace they might be involved in, +when the mystery of her parentage came to be revealed. Let her marry +Robert Martin, and she is safe, respectable, and happy for ever; +but if you encourage her to expect to marry greatly, and teach +her to be satisfied with nothing less than a man of consequence +and large fortune, she may be a parlour-boarder at Mrs. Goddard's +all the rest of her life--or, at least, (for Harriet Smith is a +girl who will marry somebody or other,) till she grow desperate, +and is glad to catch at the old writing-master's son." + +"We think so very differently on this point, Mr. Knightley, +that there can be no use in canvassing it. We shall only be making +each other more angry. But as to my _letting_ her marry Robert Martin, +it is impossible; she has refused him, and so decidedly, I think, +as must prevent any second application. She must abide by the evil +of having refused him, whatever it may be; and as to the refusal itself, +I will not pretend to say that I might not influence her a little; +but I assure you there was very little for me or for any body to do. +His appearance is so much against him, and his manner so bad, +that if she ever were disposed to favour him, she is not now. +I can imagine, that before she had seen any body superior, +she might tolerate him. He was the brother of her friends, +and he took pains to please her; and altogether, having seen +nobody better (that must have been his great assistant) +she might not, while she was at Abbey-Mill, find him disagreeable. +But the case is altered now. She knows now what gentlemen are; +and nothing but a gentleman in education and manner has any chance +with Harriet." + +"Nonsense, errant nonsense, as ever was talked!" cried Mr. Knightley.--"Robert +Martin's manners have sense, sincerity, and good-humour to recommend +them; and his mind has more true gentility than Harriet Smith could understand." + +Emma made no answer, and tried to look cheerfully unconcerned, but was +really feeling uncomfortable and wanting him very much to be gone. +She did not repent what she had done; she still thought herself +a better judge of such a point of female right and refinement than he +could be; but yet she had a sort of habitual respect for his judgment +in general, which made her dislike having it so loudly against her; +and to have him sitting just opposite to her in angry state, +was very disagreeable. Some minutes passed in this unpleasant silence, +with only one attempt on Emma's side to talk of the weather, +but he made no answer. He was thinking. The result of his thoughts +appeared at last in these words. + +"Robert Martin has no great loss--if he can but think so; and I +hope it will not be long before he does. Your views for Harriet +are best known to yourself; but as you make no secret of your love +of match-making, it is fair to suppose that views, and plans, +and projects you have;--and as a friend I shall just hint to you +that if Elton is the man, I think it will be all labour in vain." + +Emma laughed and disclaimed. He continued, + +"Depend upon it, Elton will not do. Elton is a very good sort of man, +and a very respectable vicar of Highbury, but not at all likely +to make an imprudent match. He knows the value of a good income +as well as any body. Elton may talk sentimentally, but he will +act rationally. He is as well acquainted with his own claims, as you +can be with Harriet's. He knows that he is a very handsome young man, +and a great favourite wherever he goes; and from his general way +of talking in unreserved moments, when there are only men present, +I am convinced that he does not mean to throw himself away. +I have heard him speak with great animation of a large family +of young ladies that his sisters are intimate with, who have all +twenty thousand pounds apiece." + +"I am very much obliged to you," said Emma, laughing again. +"If I had set my heart on Mr. Elton's marrying Harriet, it would +have been very kind to open my eyes; but at present I only want +to keep Harriet to myself. I have done with match-making indeed. +I could never hope to equal my own doings at Randalls. I shall leave +off while I am well." + +"Good morning to you,"--said he, rising and walking off abruptly. +He was very much vexed. He felt the disappointment of the young man, +and was mortified to have been the means of promoting it, by the +sanction he had given; and the part which he was persuaded Emma had +taken in the affair, was provoking him exceedingly. + +Emma remained in a state of vexation too; but there was more +indistinctness in the causes of her's, than in his. She did not always +feel so absolutely satisfied with herself, so entirely convinced that +her opinions were right and her adversary's wrong, as Mr. Knightley. +He walked off in more complete self-approbation than he left for her. +She was not so materially cast down, however, but that a little +time and the return of Harriet were very adequate restoratives. +Harriet's staying away so long was beginning to make her uneasy. +The possibility of the young man's coming to Mrs. Goddard's +that morning, and meeting with Harriet and pleading his own cause, +gave alarming ideas. The dread of such a failure after all became the +prominent uneasiness; and when Harriet appeared, and in very good spirits, +and without having any such reason to give for her long absence, +she felt a satisfaction which settled her with her own mind, +and convinced her, that let Mr. Knightley think or say what he would, +she had done nothing which woman's friendship and woman's feelings +would not justify. + +He had frightened her a little about Mr. Elton; but when she considered +that Mr. Knightley could not have observed him as she had done, +neither with the interest, nor (she must be allowed to tell herself, +in spite of Mr. Knightley's pretensions) with the skill of such +an observer on such a question as herself, that he had spoken it +hastily and in anger, she was able to believe, that he had rather +said what he wished resentfully to be true, than what he knew +any thing about. He certainly might have heard Mr. Elton speak +with more unreserve than she had ever done, and Mr. Elton might not +be of an imprudent, inconsiderate disposition as to money matters; +he might naturally be rather attentive than otherwise to them; +but then, Mr. Knightley did not make due allowance for the influence +of a strong passion at war with all interested motives. Mr. Knightley +saw no such passion, and of course thought nothing of its effects; +but she saw too much of it to feel a doubt of its overcoming any +hesitations that a reasonable prudence might originally suggest; +and more than a reasonable, becoming degree of prudence, she was very +sure did not belong to Mr. Elton. + +Harriet's cheerful look and manner established hers: she came back, +not to think of Mr. Martin, but to talk of Mr. Elton. Miss Nash +had been telling her something, which she repeated immediately +with great delight. Mr. Perry had been to Mrs. Goddard's to attend +a sick child, and Miss Nash had seen him, and he had told Miss Nash, +that as he was coming back yesterday from Clayton Park, he had met +Mr. Elton, and found to his great surprize, that Mr. Elton was +actually on his road to London, and not meaning to return till +the morrow, though it was the whist-club night, which he had been +never known to miss before; and Mr. Perry had remonstrated with him +about it, and told him how shabby it was in him, their best player, +to absent himself, and tried very much to persuade him to put off +his journey only one day; but it would not do; Mr. Elton had been +determined to go on, and had said in a _very_ _particular_ way indeed, +that he was going on business which he would not put off for any +inducement in the world; and something about a very enviable commission, +and being the bearer of something exceedingly precious. Mr. Perry +could not quite understand him, but he was very sure there must +be a _lady_ in the case, and he told him so; and Mr. Elton only +looked very conscious and smiling, and rode off in great spirits. +Miss Nash had told her all this, and had talked a great deal more +about Mr. Elton; and said, looking so very significantly at her, +"that she did not pretend to understand what his business might be, +but she only knew that any woman whom Mr. Elton could prefer, +she should think the luckiest woman in the world; for, beyond a doubt, +Mr. Elton had not his equal for beauty or agreeableness." + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Mr. Knightley might quarrel with her, but Emma could not quarrel +with herself. He was so much displeased, that it was longer than +usual before he came to Hartfield again; and when they did meet, +his grave looks shewed that she was not forgiven. She was sorry, +but could not repent. On the contrary, her plans and proceedings +were more and more justified and endeared to her by the general +appearances of the next few days. + +The Picture, elegantly framed, came safely to hand soon after +Mr. Elton's return, and being hung over the mantelpiece of the common +sitting-room, he got up to look at it, and sighed out his half sentences +of admiration just as he ought; and as for Harriet's feelings, they were +visibly forming themselves into as strong and steady an attachment +as her youth and sort of mind admitted. Emma was soon perfectly +satisfied of Mr. Martin's being no otherwise remembered, than as +he furnished a contrast with Mr. Elton, of the utmost advantage to the latter. + +Her views of improving her little friend's mind, by a great deal +of useful reading and conversation, had never yet led to more than +a few first chapters, and the intention of going on to-morrow. +It was much easier to chat than to study; much pleasanter to let +her imagination range and work at Harriet's fortune, than to be +labouring to enlarge her comprehension or exercise it on sober facts; +and the only literary pursuit which engaged Harriet at present, +the only mental provision she was making for the evening of life, +was the collecting and transcribing all the riddles of every sort +that she could meet with, into a thin quarto of hot-pressed paper, +made up by her friend, and ornamented with ciphers and trophies. + +In this age of literature, such collections on a very grand scale +are not uncommon. Miss Nash, head-teacher at Mrs. Goddard's, +had written out at least three hundred; and Harriet, who had taken +the first hint of it from her, hoped, with Miss Woodhouse's help, +to get a great many more. Emma assisted with her invention, +memory and taste; and as Harriet wrote a very pretty hand, +it was likely to be an arrangement of the first order, in form +as well as quantity. + +Mr. Woodhouse was almost as much interested in the business as the girls, +and tried very often to recollect something worth their putting in. +"So many clever riddles as there used to be when he was young--he +wondered he could not remember them! but he hoped he should in time." +And it always ended in "Kitty, a fair but frozen maid." + +His good friend Perry, too, whom he had spoken to on the subject, +did not at present recollect any thing of the riddle kind; +but he had desired Perry to be upon the watch, and as he went about +so much, something, he thought, might come from that quarter. + +It was by no means his daughter's wish that the intellects of +Highbury in general should be put under requisition. Mr. Elton +was the only one whose assistance she asked. He was invited +to contribute any really good enigmas, charades, or conundrums +that he might recollect; and she had the pleasure of seeing him +most intently at work with his recollections; and at the same time, +as she could perceive, most earnestly careful that nothing ungallant, +nothing that did not breathe a compliment to the sex should pass +his lips. They owed to him their two or three politest puzzles; +and the joy and exultation with which at last he recalled, +and rather sentimentally recited, that well-known charade, + + My first doth affliction denote, + Which my second is destin'd to feel + And my whole is the best antidote + That affliction to soften and heal.-- + +made her quite sorry to acknowledge that they had transcribed it +some pages ago already. + +"Why will not you write one yourself for us, Mr. Elton?" said she; +"that is the only security for its freshness; and nothing could be +easier to you." + +"Oh no! he had never written, hardly ever, any thing of the kind +in his life. The stupidest fellow! He was afraid not even Miss +Woodhouse"--he stopt a moment--"or Miss Smith could inspire him." + +The very next day however produced some proof of inspiration. +He called for a few moments, just to leave a piece of paper on the +table containing, as he said, a charade, which a friend of his had +addressed to a young lady, the object of his admiration, but which, +from his manner, Emma was immediately convinced must be his own. + +"I do not offer it for Miss Smith's collection," said he. +"Being my friend's, I have no right to expose it in any degree +to the public eye, but perhaps you may not dislike looking at it." + +The speech was more to Emma than to Harriet, which Emma +could understand. There was deep consciousness about him, +and he found it easier to meet her eye than her friend's. +He was gone the next moment:--after another moment's pause, + +"Take it," said Emma, smiling, and pushing the paper towards +Harriet--"it is for you. Take your own." + +But Harriet was in a tremor, and could not touch it; and Emma, +never loth to be first, was obliged to examine it herself. + + To Miss-- + + CHARADE. + + My first displays the wealth and pomp of kings, + Lords of the earth! their luxury and ease. + Another view of man, my second brings, + Behold him there, the monarch of the seas! + + But ah! united, what reverse we have! + Man's boasted power and freedom, all are flown; + Lord of the earth and sea, he bends a slave, + And woman, lovely woman, reigns alone. + + Thy ready wit the word will soon supply, + May its approval beam in that soft eye! + +She cast her eye over it, pondered, caught the meaning, read it through +again to be quite certain, and quite mistress of the lines, and then +passing it to Harriet, sat happily smiling, and saying to herself, +while Harriet was puzzling over the paper in all the confusion +of hope and dulness, "Very well, Mr. Elton, very well indeed. +I have read worse charades. _Courtship_--a very good hint. I give +you credit for it. This is feeling your way. This is saying very +plainly--`Pray, Miss Smith, give me leave to pay my addresses to you. +Approve my charade and my intentions in the same glance.' + + May its approval beam in that soft eye! + +Harriet exactly. Soft is the very word for her eye--of all epithets, +the justest that could be given. + + Thy ready wit the word will soon supply. + +Humph--Harriet's ready wit! All the better. A man must be very much +in love, indeed, to describe her so. Ah! Mr. Knightley, I wish +you had the benefit of this; I think this would convince you. +For once in your life you would be obliged to own yourself mistaken. +An excellent charade indeed! and very much to the purpose. +Things must come to a crisis soon now. + +She was obliged to break off from these very pleasant observations, +which were otherwise of a sort to run into great length, by the +eagerness of Harriet's wondering questions. + +"What can it be, Miss Woodhouse?--what can it be? I have not an idea--I +cannot guess it in the least. What can it possibly be? Do try +to find it out, Miss Woodhouse. Do help me. I never saw any thing +so hard. Is it kingdom? I wonder who the friend was--and who could +be the young lady. Do you think it is a good one? Can it be woman? + + And woman, lovely woman, reigns alone. + +Can it be Neptune? + + Behold him there, the monarch of the seas! + +Or a trident? or a mermaid? or a shark? Oh, no! shark is only +one syllable. It must be very clever, or he would not have brought it. +Oh! Miss Woodhouse, do you think we shall ever find it out?" + +"Mermaids and sharks! Nonsense! My dear Harriet, what are you +thinking of? Where would be the use of his bringing us a charade made +by a friend upon a mermaid or a shark? Give me the paper and listen. + +For Miss ----------, read Miss Smith. + + My first displays the wealth and pomp of kings, + Lords of the earth! their luxury and ease. + +That is _court_. + + Another view of man, my second brings; + Behold him there, the monarch of the seas! + +That is _ship_;--plain as it can be.--Now for the cream. + + But ah! united, (_courtship_, you know,) what reverse we have! + Man's boasted power and freedom, all are flown. + Lord of the earth and sea, he bends a slave, + And woman, lovely woman, reigns alone. + +A very proper compliment!--and then follows the application, +which I think, my dear Harriet, you cannot find much difficulty +in comprehending. Read it in comfort to yourself. There can +be no doubt of its being written for you and to you." + +Harriet could not long resist so delightful a persuasion. +She read the concluding lines, and was all flutter and happiness. +She could not speak. But she was not wanted to speak. It was enough +for her to feel. Emma spoke for her. + +"There is so pointed, and so particular a meaning in this compliment," +said she, "that I cannot have a doubt as to Mr. Elton's intentions. +You are his object--and you will soon receive the completest proof +of it. I thought it must be so. I thought I could not be so deceived; +but now, it is clear; the state of his mind is as clear and decided, +as my wishes on the subject have been ever since I knew you. +Yes, Harriet, just so long have I been wanting the very circumstance +to happen what has happened. I could never tell whether an attachment +between you and Mr. Elton were most desirable or most natural. +Its probability and its eligibility have really so equalled each +other! I am very happy. I congratulate you, my dear Harriet, with all +my heart. This is an attachment which a woman may well feel pride +in creating. This is a connexion which offers nothing but good. +It will give you every thing that you want--consideration, independence, +a proper home--it will fix you in the centre of all your real friends, +close to Hartfield and to me, and confirm our intimacy for ever. +This, Harriet, is an alliance which can never raise a blush in either +of us." + +"Dear Miss Woodhouse!"--and "Dear Miss Woodhouse," was all that Harriet, +with many tender embraces could articulate at first; but when they +did arrive at something more like conversation, it was sufficiently +clear to her friend that she saw, felt, anticipated, and remembered +just as she ought. Mr. Elton's superiority had very ample acknowledgment. + +"Whatever you say is always right," cried Harriet, "and therefore +I suppose, and believe, and hope it must be so; but otherwise I could +not have imagined it. It is so much beyond any thing I deserve. +Mr. Elton, who might marry any body! There cannot be two opinions +about _him_. He is so very superior. Only think of those sweet +verses--`To Miss --------.' Dear me, how clever!--Could it really +be meant for me?" + +"I cannot make a question, or listen to a question about that. +It is a certainty. Receive it on my judgment. It is a sort +of prologue to the play, a motto to the chapter; and will be soon +followed by matter-of-fact prose." + +"It is a sort of thing which nobody could have expected. I am sure, +a month ago, I had no more idea myself!--The strangest things do +take place!" + +"When Miss Smiths and Mr. Eltons get acquainted--they do indeed--and +really it is strange; it is out of the common course that what is +so evidently, so palpably desirable--what courts the pre-arrangement +of other people, should so immediately shape itself into the proper form. +You and Mr. Elton are by situation called together; you belong +to one another by every circumstance of your respective homes. +Your marrying will be equal to the match at Randalls. There does +seem to be a something in the air of Hartfield which gives love +exactly the right direction, and sends it into the very channel +where it ought to flow. + + The course of true love never did run smooth-- + +A Hartfield edition of Shakespeare would have a long note on that passage." + +"That Mr. Elton should really be in love with me,--me, of all people, +who did not know him, to speak to him, at Michaelmas! And he, +the very handsomest man that ever was, and a man that every body +looks up to, quite like Mr. Knightley! His company so sought after, +that every body says he need not eat a single meal by himself if he +does not chuse it; that he has more invitations than there are days +in the week. And so excellent in the Church! Miss Nash has put down +all the texts he has ever preached from since he came to Highbury. +Dear me! When I look back to the first time I saw him! How little +did I think!--The two Abbots and I ran into the front room and +peeped through the blind when we heard he was going by, and Miss +Nash came and scolded us away, and staid to look through herself; +however, she called me back presently, and let me look too, +which was very good-natured. And how beautiful we thought he looked! +He was arm-in-arm with Mr. Cole." + +"This is an alliance which, whoever--whatever your friends may be, +must be agreeable to them, provided at least they have common sense; +and we are not to be addressing our conduct to fools. If they +are anxious to see you _happily_ married, here is a man whose amiable +character gives every assurance of it;--if they wish to have you +settled in the same country and circle which they have chosen +to place you in, here it will be accomplished; and if their only +object is that you should, in the common phrase, be _well_ married, +here is the comfortable fortune, the respectable establishment, +the rise in the world which must satisfy them." + +"Yes, very true. How nicely you talk; I love to hear you. +You understand every thing. You and Mr. Elton are one as clever +as the other. This charade!--If I had studied a twelvemonth, +I could never have made any thing like it." + +"I thought he meant to try his skill, by his manner of declining +it yesterday." + +"I do think it is, without exception, the best charade I ever read." + +"I never read one more to the purpose, certainly." + +"It is as long again as almost all we have had before." + +"I do not consider its length as particularly in its favour. +Such things in general cannot be too short." + +Harriet was too intent on the lines to hear. The most satisfactory +comparisons were rising in her mind. + +"It is one thing," said she, presently--her cheeks in a glow--"to +have very good sense in a common way, like every body else, +and if there is any thing to say, to sit down and write a letter, +and say just what you must, in a short way; and another, to write +verses and charades like this." + +Emma could not have desired a more spirited rejection of Mr. Martin's prose. + +"Such sweet lines!" continued Harriet--"these two last!--But +how shall I ever be able to return the paper, or say I have found +it out?--Oh! Miss Woodhouse, what can we do about that?" + +"Leave it to me. You do nothing. He will be here this evening, +I dare say, and then I will give it him back, and some nonsense +or other will pass between us, and you shall not be committed.--Your +soft eyes shall chuse their own time for beaming. Trust to me." + +"Oh! Miss Woodhouse, what a pity that I must not write this beautiful +charade into my book! I am sure I have not got one half so good." + +"Leave out the two last lines, and there is no reason why you +should not write it into your book." + +"Oh! but those two lines are"-- + +--"The best of all. Granted;--for private enjoyment; and for private +enjoyment keep them. They are not at all the less written you know, +because you divide them. The couplet does not cease to be, nor does +its meaning change. But take it away, and all _appropriation_ ceases, +and a very pretty gallant charade remains, fit for any collection. +Depend upon it, he would not like to have his charade slighted, +much better than his passion. A poet in love must be encouraged in +both capacities, or neither. Give me the book, I will write it down, +and then there can be no possible reflection on you." + +Harriet submitted, though her mind could hardly separate the parts, +so as to feel quite sure that her friend were not writing down +a declaration of love. It seemed too precious an offering for any +degree of publicity. + +"I shall never let that book go out of my own hands," said she. + +"Very well," replied Emma; "a most natural feeling; and the longer +it lasts, the better I shall be pleased. But here is my father +coming: you will not object to my reading the charade to him. +It will be giving him so much pleasure! He loves any thing of +the sort, and especially any thing that pays woman a compliment. +He has the tenderest spirit of gallantry towards us all!--You must +let me read it to him." + +Harriet looked grave. + +"My dear Harriet, you must not refine too much upon this +charade.--You will betray your feelings improperly, if you are +too conscious and too quick, and appear to affix more meaning, +or even quite all the meaning which may be affixed to it. +Do not be overpowered by such a little tribute of admiration. +If he had been anxious for secrecy, he would not have left the paper +while I was by; but he rather pushed it towards me than towards you. +Do not let us be too solemn on the business. He has encouragement +enough to proceed, without our sighing out our souls over this charade." + +"Oh! no--I hope I shall not be ridiculous about it. Do as you please." + +Mr. Woodhouse came in, and very soon led to the subject again, +by the recurrence of his very frequent inquiry of "Well, my dears, +how does your book go on?--Have you got any thing fresh?" + +"Yes, papa; we have something to read you, something quite fresh. +A piece of paper was found on the table this morning--(dropt, +we suppose, by a fairy)--containing a very pretty charade, and we +have just copied it in." + +She read it to him, just as he liked to have any thing read, +slowly and distinctly, and two or three times over, with explanations +of every part as she proceeded--and he was very much pleased, and, +as she had foreseen, especially struck with the complimentary conclusion. + +"Aye, that's very just, indeed, that's very properly said. +Very true. `Woman, lovely woman.' It is such a pretty charade, +my dear, that I can easily guess what fairy brought it.--Nobody +could have written so prettily, but you, Emma." + +Emma only nodded, and smiled.--After a little thinking, +and a very tender sigh, he added, + +"Ah! it is no difficulty to see who you take after! Your dear mother +was so clever at all those things! If I had but her memory! But I +can remember nothing;--not even that particular riddle which you +have heard me mention; I can only recollect the first stanza; +and there are several. + + Kitty, a fair but frozen maid, + Kindled a flame I yet deplore, + The hood-wink'd boy I called to aid, + Though of his near approach afraid, + So fatal to my suit before. + +And that is all that I can recollect of it--but it is very clever +all the way through. But I think, my dear, you said you had got it." + +"Yes, papa, it is written out in our second page. We copied it +from the Elegant Extracts. It was Garrick's, you know." + +"Aye, very true.--I wish I could recollect more of it. + + Kitty, a fair but frozen maid. + +The name makes me think of poor Isabella; for she was very near +being christened Catherine after her grandmama. I hope we shall +have her here next week. Have you thought, my dear, where you +shall put her--and what room there will be for the children?" + +"Oh! yes--she will have her own room, of course; the room she always +has;--and there is the nursery for the children,--just as usual, +you know. Why should there be any change?" + +"I do not know, my dear--but it is so long since she was here!--not +since last Easter, and then only for a few days.--Mr. John Knightley's +being a lawyer is very inconvenient.--Poor Isabella!--she is sadly +taken away from us all!--and how sorry she will be when she comes, +not to see Miss Taylor here!" + +"She will not be surprized, papa, at least." + +"I do not know, my dear. I am sure I was very much surprized +when I first heard she was going to be married." + +"We must ask Mr. and Mrs. Weston to dine with us, while Isabella +is here." + +"Yes, my dear, if there is time.--But--(in a very depressed tone)--she +is coming for only one week. There will not be time for any thing." + +"It is unfortunate that they cannot stay longer--but it seems a case +of necessity. Mr. John Knightley must be in town again on the 28th, +and we ought to be thankful, papa, that we are to have the whole +of the time they can give to the country, that two or three days +are not to be taken out for the Abbey. Mr. Knightley promises +to give up his claim this Christmas--though you know it is longer +since they were with him, than with us." + +"It would be very hard, indeed, my dear, if poor Isabella were +to be anywhere but at Hartfield." + +Mr. Woodhouse could never allow for Mr. Knightley's claims on +his brother, or any body's claims on Isabella, except his own. +He sat musing a little while, and then said, + +"But I do not see why poor Isabella should be obliged to go back +so soon, though he does. I think, Emma, I shall try and persuade +her to stay longer with us. She and the children might stay very well." + +"Ah! papa--that is what you never have been able to accomplish, +and I do not think you ever will. Isabella cannot bear to stay +behind her husband." + +This was too true for contradiction. Unwelcome as it was, Mr. Woodhouse +could only give a submissive sigh; and as Emma saw his spirits +affected by the idea of his daughter's attachment to her husband, +she immediately led to such a branch of the subject as must raise them. + +"Harriet must give us as much of her company as she can while +my brother and sister are here. I am sure she will be pleased +with the children. We are very proud of the children, are not we, +papa? I wonder which she will think the handsomest, Henry or John?" + +"Aye, I wonder which she will. Poor little dears, how glad they +will be to come. They are very fond of being at Hartfield, Harriet." + +"I dare say they are, sir. I am sure I do not know who is not." + +"Henry is a fine boy, but John is very like his mama. Henry is the eldest, +he was named after me, not after his father. John, the second, +is named after his father. Some people are surprized, I believe, +that the eldest was not, but Isabella would have him called Henry, +which I thought very pretty of her. And he is a very clever boy, +indeed. They are all remarkably clever; and they have so many +pretty ways. They will come and stand by my chair, and say, +`Grandpapa, can you give me a bit of string?' and once Henry asked me +for a knife, but I told him knives were only made for grandpapas. +I think their father is too rough with them very often." + +"He appears rough to you," said Emma, "because you are so very +gentle yourself; but if you could compare him with other papas, +you would not think him rough. He wishes his boys to be active and hardy; +and if they misbehave, can give them a sharp word now and then; +but he is an affectionate father--certainly Mr. John Knightley +is an affectionate father. The children are all fond of him." + +"And then their uncle comes in, and tosses them up to the ceiling +in a very frightful way!" + +"But they like it, papa; there is nothing they like so much. +It is such enjoyment to them, that if their uncle did not lay down +the rule of their taking turns, whichever began would never give way +to the other." + +"Well, I cannot understand it." + +"That is the case with us all, papa. One half of the world cannot +understand the pleasures of the other." + +Later in the morning, and just as the girls were going to separate +in preparation for the regular four o'clock dinner, the hero +of this inimitable charade walked in again. Harriet turned away; +but Emma could receive him with the usual smile, and her quick eye +soon discerned in his the consciousness of having made a push--of +having thrown a die; and she imagined he was come to see how it +might turn up. His ostensible reason, however, was to ask whether +Mr. Woodhouse's party could be made up in the evening without him, +or whether he should be in the smallest degree necessary at Hartfield. +If he were, every thing else must give way; but otherwise his friend +Cole had been saying so much about his dining with him--had made +such a point of it, that he had promised him conditionally to come. + +Emma thanked him, but could not allow of his disappointing his +friend on their account; her father was sure of his rubber. +He re-urged--she re-declined; and he seemed then about to make +his bow, when taking the paper from the table, she returned it-- + +"Oh! here is the charade you were so obliging as to leave with us; +thank you for the sight of it. We admired it so much, that I have +ventured to write it into Miss Smith's collection. Your friend +will not take it amiss I hope. Of course I have not transcribed +beyond the first eight lines." + +Mr. Elton certainly did not very well know what to say. +He looked rather doubtingly--rather confused; said something about +"honour,"--glanced at Emma and at Harriet, and then seeing the book +open on the table, took it up, and examined it very attentively. +With the view of passing off an awkward moment, Emma smilingly said, + +"You must make my apologies to your friend; but so good a charade +must not be confined to one or two. He may be sure of every woman's +approbation while he writes with such gallantry." + +"I have no hesitation in saying," replied Mr. Elton, though hesitating +a good deal while he spoke; "I have no hesitation in saying--at +least if my friend feels at all as _I_ do--I have not the smallest +doubt that, could he see his little effusion honoured as _I_ see it, +(looking at the book again, and replacing it on the table), he +would consider it as the proudest moment of his life." + +After this speech he was gone as soon as possible. Emma could not +think it too soon; for with all his good and agreeable qualities, +there was a sort of parade in his speeches which was very apt +to incline her to laugh. She ran away to indulge the inclination, +leaving the tender and the sublime of pleasure to Harriet's share. + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Though now the middle of December, there had yet been no weather +to prevent the young ladies from tolerably regular exercise; +and on the morrow, Emma had a charitable visit to pay to a poor +sick family, who lived a little way out of Highbury. + +Their road to this detached cottage was down Vicarage Lane, a lane +leading at right angles from the broad, though irregular, main street +of the place; and, as may be inferred, containing the blessed abode +of Mr. Elton. A few inferior dwellings were first to be passed, +and then, about a quarter of a mile down the lane rose the Vicarage, +an old and not very good house, almost as close to the road as it +could be. It had no advantage of situation; but had been very much +smartened up by the present proprietor; and, such as it was, +there could be no possibility of the two friends passing it without +a slackened pace and observing eyes.--Emma's remark was-- + +"There it is. There go you and your riddle-book one of these days."-- +Harriet's was-- + +"Oh, what a sweet house!--How very beautiful!--There are the yellow +curtains that Miss Nash admires so much." + +"I do not often walk this way _now_," said Emma, as they proceeded, +"but _then_ there will be an inducement, and I shall gradually get +intimately acquainted with all the hedges, gates, pools and pollards +of this part of Highbury." + +Harriet, she found, had never in her life been within side the Vicarage, +and her curiosity to see it was so extreme, that, considering exteriors +and probabilities, Emma could only class it, as a proof of love, +with Mr. Elton's seeing ready wit in her. + +"I wish we could contrive it," said she; "but I cannot think +of any tolerable pretence for going in;--no servant that I want +to inquire about of his housekeeper--no message from my father." + +She pondered, but could think of nothing. After a mutual silence +of some minutes, Harriet thus began again-- + +"I do so wonder, Miss Woodhouse, that you should not be married, +or going to be married! so charming as you are!"-- + +Emma laughed, and replied, + +"My being charming, Harriet, is not quite enough to induce me to marry; +I must find other people charming--one other person at least. +And I am not only, not going to be married, at present, but have +very little intention of ever marrying at all." + +"Ah!--so you say; but I cannot believe it." + +"I must see somebody very superior to any one I have seen yet, +to be tempted; Mr. Elton, you know, (recollecting herself,) +is out of the question: and I do _not_ wish to see any such person. +I would rather not be tempted. I cannot really change for the better. +If I were to marry, I must expect to repent it." + +"Dear me!--it is so odd to hear a woman talk so!"-- + +"I have none of the usual inducements of women to marry. +Were I to fall in love, indeed, it would be a different thing! +but I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; +and I do not think I ever shall. And, without love, I am sure I +should be a fool to change such a situation as mine. Fortune I +do not want; employment I do not want; consequence I do not want: +I believe few married women are half as much mistress of their +husband's house as I am of Hartfield; and never, never could I expect +to be so truly beloved and important; so always first and always +right in any man's eyes as I am in my father's." + +"But then, to be an old maid at last, like Miss Bates!" + +"That is as formidable an image as you could present, Harriet; and if I +thought I should ever be like Miss Bates! so silly--so satisfied-- +so smiling--so prosing--so undistinguishing and unfastidious-- +and so apt to tell every thing relative to every body about me, +I would marry to-morrow. But between _us_, I am convinced there never +can be any likeness, except in being unmarried." + +"But still, you will be an old maid! and that's so dreadful!" + +"Never mind, Harriet, I shall not be a poor old maid; and it is +poverty only which makes celibacy contemptible to a generous public! +A single woman, with a very narrow income, must be a ridiculous, +disagreeable old maid! the proper sport of boys and girls, +but a single woman, of good fortune, is always respectable, +and may be as sensible and pleasant as any body else. And the +distinction is not quite so much against the candour and common +sense of the world as appears at first; for a very narrow income +has a tendency to contract the mind, and sour the temper. +Those who can barely live, and who live perforce in a very small, +and generally very inferior, society, may well be illiberal and cross. +This does not apply, however, to Miss Bates; she is only too good +natured and too silly to suit me; but, in general, she is very +much to the taste of every body, though single and though poor. +Poverty certainly has not contracted her mind: I really believe, +if she had only a shilling in the world, she would be very likely +to give away sixpence of it; and nobody is afraid of her: that is a +great charm." + +"Dear me! but what shall you do? how shall you employ yourself +when you grow old?" + +"If I know myself, Harriet, mine is an active, busy mind, with a great +many independent resources; and I do not perceive why I should be +more in want of employment at forty or fifty than one-and-twenty. +Woman's usual occupations of hand and mind will be as open to me then +as they are now; or with no important variation. If I draw less, +I shall read more; if I give up music, I shall take to carpet-work. +And as for objects of interest, objects for the affections, +which is in truth the great point of inferiority, the want of which +is really the great evil to be avoided in _not_ marrying, I shall +be very well off, with all the children of a sister I love so much, +to care about. There will be enough of them, in all probability, +to supply every sort of sensation that declining life can need. +There will be enough for every hope and every fear; and though my +attachment to none can equal that of a parent, it suits my ideas +of comfort better than what is warmer and blinder. My nephews +and nieces!--I shall often have a niece with me." + +"Do you know Miss Bates's niece? That is, I know you must have +seen her a hundred times--but are you acquainted?" + +"Oh! yes; we are always forced to be acquainted whenever she comes +to Highbury. By the bye, _that_ is almost enough to put one out +of conceit with a niece. Heaven forbid! at least, that I should +ever bore people half so much about all the Knightleys together, +as she does about Jane Fairfax. One is sick of the very name +of Jane Fairfax. Every letter from her is read forty times over; +her compliments to all friends go round and round again; and if she +does but send her aunt the pattern of a stomacher, or knit a pair +of garters for her grandmother, one hears of nothing else for a month. +I wish Jane Fairfax very well; but she tires me to death." + +They were now approaching the cottage, and all idle topics +were superseded. Emma was very compassionate; and the distresses +of the poor were as sure of relief from her personal attention +and kindness, her counsel and her patience, as from her purse. +She understood their ways, could allow for their ignorance and +their temptations, had no romantic expectations of extraordinary +virtue from those for whom education had done so little; entered into +their troubles with ready sympathy, and always gave her assistance +with as much intelligence as good-will. In the present instance, +it was sickness and poverty together which she came to visit; +and after remaining there as long as she could give comfort or advice, +she quitted the cottage with such an impression of the scene +as made her say to Harriet, as they walked away, + +"These are the sights, Harriet, to do one good. How trifling they +make every thing else appear!--I feel now as if I could think of +nothing but these poor creatures all the rest of the day; and yet, +who can say how soon it may all vanish from my mind?" + +"Very true," said Harriet. "Poor creatures! one can think +of nothing else." + +"And really, I do not think the impression will soon be over," +said Emma, as she crossed the low hedge, and tottering footstep +which ended the narrow, slippery path through the cottage garden, +and brought them into the lane again. "I do not think it will," +stopping to look once more at all the outward wretchedness of the place, +and recall the still greater within. + +"Oh! dear, no," said her companion. + +They walked on. The lane made a slight bend; and when that bend +was passed, Mr. Elton was immediately in sight; and so near +as to give Emma time only to say farther, + +"Ah! Harriet, here comes a very sudden trial of our stability +in good thoughts. Well, (smiling,) I hope it may be allowed that +if compassion has produced exertion and relief to the sufferers, +it has done all that is truly important. If we feel for the wretched, +enough to do all we can for them, the rest is empty sympathy, +only distressing to ourselves." + +Harriet could just answer, "Oh! dear, yes," before the gentleman +joined them. The wants and sufferings of the poor family, however, +were the first subject on meeting. He had been going to call +on them. His visit he would now defer; but they had a very +interesting parley about what could be done and should be done. +Mr. Elton then turned back to accompany them. + +"To fall in with each other on such an errand as this," thought Emma; +"to meet in a charitable scheme; this will bring a great increase +of love on each side. I should not wonder if it were to bring +on the declaration. It must, if I were not here. I wish I were +anywhere else." + +Anxious to separate herself from them as far as she could, she soon +afterwards took possession of a narrow footpath, a little raised +on one side of the lane, leaving them together in the main road. +But she had not been there two minutes when she found that Harriet's +habits of dependence and imitation were bringing her up too, and that, +in short, they would both be soon after her. This would not do; +she immediately stopped, under pretence of having some alteration +to make in the lacing of her half-boot, and stooping down in complete +occupation of the footpath, begged them to have the goodness to walk on, +and she would follow in half a minute. They did as they were desired; +and by the time she judged it reasonable to have done with her boot, +she had the comfort of farther delay in her power, being overtaken +by a child from the cottage, setting out, according to orders, +with her pitcher, to fetch broth from Hartfield. To walk by the side +of this child, and talk to and question her, was the most natural +thing in the world, or would have been the most natural, had she been +acting just then without design; and by this means the others were +still able to keep ahead, without any obligation of waiting for her. +She gained on them, however, involuntarily: the child's pace was quick, +and theirs rather slow; and she was the more concerned at it, +from their being evidently in a conversation which interested them. +Mr. Elton was speaking with animation, Harriet listening with a very +pleased attention; and Emma, having sent the child on, was beginning +to think how she might draw back a little more, when they both +looked around, and she was obliged to join them. + +Mr. Elton was still talking, still engaged in some interesting detail; +and Emma experienced some disappointment when she found that he +was only giving his fair companion an account of the yesterday's +party at his friend Cole's, and that she was come in herself for +the Stilton cheese, the north Wiltshire, the butter, the cellery, +the beet-root, and all the dessert. + +"This would soon have led to something better, of course," was her +consoling reflection; "any thing interests between those who love; +and any thing will serve as introduction to what is near the heart. +If I could but have kept longer away!" + +They now walked on together quietly, till within view of the vicarage +pales, when a sudden resolution, of at least getting Harriet into +the house, made her again find something very much amiss about her boot, +and fall behind to arrange it once more. She then broke the lace +off short, and dexterously throwing it into a ditch, was presently +obliged to entreat them to stop, and acknowledged her inability to +put herself to rights so as to be able to walk home in tolerable comfort. + +"Part of my lace is gone," said she, "and I do not know how I am +to contrive. I really am a most troublesome companion to you both, +but I hope I am not often so ill-equipped. Mr. Elton, I must beg +leave to stop at your house, and ask your housekeeper for a bit +of ribband or string, or any thing just to keep my boot on." + +Mr. Elton looked all happiness at this proposition; and nothing +could exceed his alertness and attention in conducting them into +his house and endeavouring to make every thing appear to advantage. +The room they were taken into was the one he chiefly occupied, +and looking forwards; behind it was another with which it immediately +communicated; the door between them was open, and Emma passed +into it with the housekeeper to receive her assistance in the most +comfortable manner. She was obliged to leave the door ajar as she +found it; but she fully intended that Mr. Elton should close it. +It was not closed, however, it still remained ajar; but by engaging +the housekeeper in incessant conversation, she hoped to make it +practicable for him to chuse his own subject in the adjoining room. +For ten minutes she could hear nothing but herself. It could +be protracted no longer. She was then obliged to be finished, +and make her appearance. + +The lovers were standing together at one of the windows. It had a +most favourable aspect; and, for half a minute, Emma felt the glory +of having schemed successfully. But it would not do; he had not +come to the point. He had been most agreeable, most delightful; +he had told Harriet that he had seen them go by, and had purposely +followed them; other little gallantries and allusions had been dropt, +but nothing serious. + +"Cautious, very cautious," thought Emma; "he advances inch by inch, +and will hazard nothing till he believes himself secure." + +Still, however, though every thing had not been accomplished +by her ingenious device, she could not but flatter herself +that it had been the occasion of much present enjoyment to both, +and must be leading them forward to the great event. + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Mr. Elton must now be left to himself. It was no longer in Emma's +power to superintend his happiness or quicken his measures. +The coming of her sister's family was so very near at hand, +that first in anticipation, and then in reality, it became henceforth +her prime object of interest; and during the ten days of their stay +at Hartfield it was not to be expected--she did not herself expect-- +that any thing beyond occasional, fortuitous assistance could +be afforded by her to the lovers. They might advance rapidly +if they would, however; they must advance somehow or other whether +they would or no. She hardly wished to have more leisure for them. +There are people, who the more you do for them, the less they will +do for themselves. + +Mr. and Mrs. John Knightley, from having been longer than usual +absent from Surry, were exciting of course rather more than the +usual interest. Till this year, every long vacation since their +marriage had been divided between Hartfield and Donwell Abbey; +but all the holidays of this autumn had been given to sea-bathing +for the children, and it was therefore many months since they had +been seen in a regular way by their Surry connexions, or seen at all +by Mr. Woodhouse, who could not be induced to get so far as London, +even for poor Isabella's sake; and who consequently was now most +nervously and apprehensively happy in forestalling this too short visit. + +He thought much of the evils of the journey for her, and not a +little of the fatigues of his own horses and coachman who were to +bring some of the party the last half of the way; but his alarms +were needless; the sixteen miles being happily accomplished, +and Mr. and Mrs. John Knightley, their five children, and a competent +number of nursery-maids, all reaching Hartfield in safety. +The bustle and joy of such an arrival, the many to be talked to, +welcomed, encouraged, and variously dispersed and disposed of, +produced a noise and confusion which his nerves could not have borne +under any other cause, nor have endured much longer even for this; +but the ways of Hartfield and the feelings of her father were +so respected by Mrs. John Knightley, that in spite of maternal +solicitude for the immediate enjoyment of her little ones, +and for their having instantly all the liberty and attendance, +all the eating and drinking, and sleeping and playing, +which they could possibly wish for, without the smallest delay, +the children were never allowed to be long a disturbance to him, +either in themselves or in any restless attendance on them. + +Mrs. John Knightley was a pretty, elegant little woman, of gentle, +quiet manners, and a disposition remarkably amiable and affectionate; +wrapt up in her family; a devoted wife, a doating mother, +and so tenderly attached to her father and sister that, but for +these higher ties, a warmer love might have seemed impossible. +She could never see a fault in any of them. She was not a woman +of strong understanding or any quickness; and with this resemblance +of her father, she inherited also much of his constitution; +was delicate in her own health, over-careful of that of her children, +had many fears and many nerves, and was as fond of her own Mr. Wingfield +in town as her father could be of Mr. Perry. They were alike too, +in a general benevolence of temper, and a strong habit of regard +for every old acquaintance. + +Mr. John Knightley was a tall, gentleman-like, and very clever man; +rising in his profession, domestic, and respectable in his +private character; but with reserved manners which prevented his being +generally pleasing; and capable of being sometimes out of humour. +He was not an ill-tempered man, not so often unreasonably cross +as to deserve such a reproach; but his temper was not his +great perfection; and, indeed, with such a worshipping wife, +it was hardly possible that any natural defects in it should not +be increased. The extreme sweetness of her temper must hurt his. +He had all the clearness and quickness of mind which she wanted, +and he could sometimes act an ungracious, or say a severe thing. + +He was not a great favourite with his fair sister-in-law. Nothing +wrong in him escaped her. She was quick in feeling the little +injuries to Isabella, which Isabella never felt herself. +Perhaps she might have passed over more had his manners been +flattering to Isabella's sister, but they were only those of a calmly +kind brother and friend, without praise and without blindness; +but hardly any degree of personal compliment could have made her +regardless of that greatest fault of all in her eyes which he sometimes +fell into, the want of respectful forbearance towards her father. +There he had not always the patience that could have been wished. +Mr. Woodhouse's peculiarities and fidgetiness were sometimes provoking +him to a rational remonstrance or sharp retort equally ill-bestowed. +It did not often happen; for Mr. John Knightley had really a great +regard for his father-in-law, and generally a strong sense of what was +due to him; but it was too often for Emma's charity, especially as +there was all the pain of apprehension frequently to be endured, +though the offence came not. The beginning, however, of every visit +displayed none but the properest feelings, and this being of necessity +so short might be hoped to pass away in unsullied cordiality. +They had not been long seated and composed when Mr. Woodhouse, +with a melancholy shake of the head and a sigh, called his daughter's +attention to the sad change at Hartfield since she had been there last. + +"Ah, my dear," said he, "poor Miss Taylor--It is a grievous business." + +"Oh yes, sir," cried she with ready sympathy, "how you must +miss her! And dear Emma, too!--What a dreadful loss to you both!-- +I have been so grieved for you.--I could not imagine how you could +possibly do without her.--It is a sad change indeed.--But I hope +she is pretty well, sir." + +"Pretty well, my dear--I hope--pretty well.--I do not know +but that the place agrees with her tolerably." + +Mr. John Knightley here asked Emma quietly whether there were any +doubts of the air of Randalls. + +"Oh! no--none in the least. I never saw Mrs. Weston better in my life-- +never looking so well. Papa is only speaking his own regret." + +"Very much to the honour of both," was the handsome reply. + +"And do you see her, sir, tolerably often?" asked Isabella +in the plaintive tone which just suited her father. + +Mr. Woodhouse hesitated.--"Not near so often, my dear, as I could wish." + +"Oh! papa, we have missed seeing them but one entire day since +they married. Either in the morning or evening of every day, +excepting one, have we seen either Mr. Weston or Mrs. Weston, +and generally both, either at Randalls or here--and as you +may suppose, Isabella, most frequently here. They are very, +very kind in their visits. Mr. Weston is really as kind as herself. +Papa, if you speak in that melancholy way, you will be giving +Isabella a false idea of us all. Every body must be aware that Miss +Taylor must be missed, but every body ought also to be assured +that Mr. and Mrs. Weston do really prevent our missing her by any +means to the extent we ourselves anticipated--which is the exact truth." + +"Just as it should be," said Mr. John Knightley, "and just as I hoped +it was from your letters. Her wish of shewing you attention could +not be doubted, and his being a disengaged and social man makes it +all easy. I have been always telling you, my love, that I had no idea +of the change being so very material to Hartfield as you apprehended; +and now you have Emma's account, I hope you will be satisfied." + +"Why, to be sure," said Mr. Woodhouse--"yes, certainly--I cannot deny +that Mrs. Weston, poor Mrs. Weston, does come and see us pretty often-- +but then--she is always obliged to go away again." + +"It would be very hard upon Mr. Weston if she did not, papa.-- +You quite forget poor Mr. Weston." + +"I think, indeed," said John Knightley pleasantly, "that Mr. Weston +has some little claim. You and I, Emma, will venture to take the part +of the poor husband. I, being a husband, and you not being a wife, +the claims of the man may very likely strike us with equal force. +As for Isabella, she has been married long enough to see the convenience +of putting all the Mr. Westons aside as much as she can." + +"Me, my love," cried his wife, hearing and understanding only in part.-- +"Are you talking about me?--I am sure nobody ought to be, or can be, +a greater advocate for matrimony than I am; and if it had not been +for the misery of her leaving Hartfield, I should never have thought +of Miss Taylor but as the most fortunate woman in the world; +and as to slighting Mr. Weston, that excellent Mr. Weston, I think +there is nothing he does not deserve. I believe he is one of the +very best-tempered men that ever existed. Excepting yourself +and your brother, I do not know his equal for temper. I shall +never forget his flying Henry's kite for him that very windy day +last Easter--and ever since his particular kindness last September +twelvemonth in writing that note, at twelve o'clock at night, +on purpose to assure me that there was no scarlet fever at Cobham, +I have been convinced there could not be a more feeling heart nor +a better man in existence.--If any body can deserve him, it must be +Miss Taylor." + +"Where is the young man?" said John Knightley. "Has he been here +on this occasion--or has he not?" + +"He has not been here yet," replied Emma. "There was a strong +expectation of his coming soon after the marriage, but it ended +in nothing; and I have not heard him mentioned lately." + +"But you should tell them of the letter, my dear," said her father. +"He wrote a letter to poor Mrs. Weston, to congratulate her, +and a very proper, handsome letter it was. She shewed it to me. +I thought it very well done of him indeed. Whether it was his own idea +you know, one cannot tell. He is but young, and his uncle, perhaps--" + +"My dear papa, he is three-and-twenty. You forget how time passes." + +"Three-and-twenty!--is he indeed?--Well, I could not have thought it-- +and he was but two years old when he lost his poor mother! Well, +time does fly indeed!--and my memory is very bad. However, it was +an exceeding good, pretty letter, and gave Mr. and Mrs. Weston +a great deal of pleasure. I remember it was written from Weymouth, +and dated Sept. 28th--and began, `My dear Madam,' but I forget +how it went on; and it was signed `F. C. Weston Churchill.'-- +I remember that perfectly." + +"How very pleasing and proper of him!" cried the good-hearted Mrs. John +Knightley. "I have no doubt of his being a most amiable young man. +But how sad it is that he should not live at home with his father! +There is something so shocking in a child's being taken away from his +parents and natural home! I never could comprehend how Mr. Weston +could part with him. To give up one's child! I really never +could think well of any body who proposed such a thing to any body else." + +"Nobody ever did think well of the Churchills, I fancy," +observed Mr. John Knightley coolly. "But you need not imagine +Mr. Weston to have felt what you would feel in giving up Henry +or John. Mr. Weston is rather an easy, cheerful-tempered man, +than a man of strong feelings; he takes things as he finds them, +and makes enjoyment of them somehow or other, depending, I suspect, +much more upon what is called society for his comforts, that is, +upon the power of eating and drinking, and playing whist with his +neighbours five times a week, than upon family affection, or any +thing that home affords." + +Emma could not like what bordered on a reflection on Mr. Weston, +and had half a mind to take it up; but she struggled, and let +it pass. She would keep the peace if possible; and there was +something honourable and valuable in the strong domestic habits, +the all-sufficiency of home to himself, whence resulted her brother's +disposition to look down on the common rate of social intercourse, +and those to whom it was important.--It had a high claim to forbearance. + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Mr. Knightley was to dine with them--rather against the inclination +of Mr. Woodhouse, who did not like that any one should share with him +in Isabella's first day. Emma's sense of right however had decided it; +and besides the consideration of what was due to each brother, +she had particular pleasure, from the circumstance of the late +disagreement between Mr. Knightley and herself, in procuring him +the proper invitation. + +She hoped they might now become friends again. She thought it +was time to make up. Making-up indeed would not do. _She_ certainly +had not been in the wrong, and _he_ would never own that he had. +Concession must be out of the question; but it was time to appear +to forget that they had ever quarrelled; and she hoped it might rather +assist the restoration of friendship, that when he came into the room +she had one of the children with her--the youngest, a nice little girl +about eight months old, who was now making her first visit to Hartfield, +and very happy to be danced about in her aunt's arms. It did assist; +for though he began with grave looks and short questions, he was soon +led on to talk of them all in the usual way, and to take the child +out of her arms with all the unceremoniousness of perfect amity. +Emma felt they were friends again; and the conviction giving +her at first great satisfaction, and then a little sauciness, +she could not help saying, as he was admiring the baby, + +"What a comfort it is, that we think alike about our nephews and nieces. +As to men and women, our opinions are sometimes very different; +but with regard to these children, I observe we never disagree." + +"If you were as much guided by nature in your estimate of men +and women, and as little under the power of fancy and whim in your +dealings with them, as you are where these children are concerned, +we might always think alike." + +"To be sure--our discordancies must always arise from my being +in the wrong." + +"Yes," said he, smiling--"and reason good. I was sixteen years +old when you were born." + +"A material difference then," she replied--"and no doubt you were +much my superior in judgment at that period of our lives; but does +not the lapse of one-and-twenty years bring our understandings +a good deal nearer?" + +"Yes--a good deal _nearer_." + +"But still, not near enough to give me a chance of being right, +if we think differently." + +"I have still the advantage of you by sixteen years' experience, and by +not being a pretty young woman and a spoiled child. Come, my dear Emma, +let us be friends, and say no more about it. Tell your aunt, little Emma, +that she ought to set you a better example than to be renewing +old grievances, and that if she were not wrong before, she is now." + +"That's true," she cried--"very true. Little Emma, grow up +a better woman than your aunt. Be infinitely cleverer and not +half so conceited. Now, Mr. Knightley, a word or two more, and I +have done. As far as good intentions went, we were _both_ right, +and I must say that no effects on my side of the argument have yet +proved wrong. I only want to know that Mr. Martin is not very, +very bitterly disappointed." + +"A man cannot be more so," was his short, full answer. + +"Ah!--Indeed I am very sorry.--Come, shake hands with me." + +This had just taken place and with great cordiality, when John +Knightley made his appearance, and "How d'ye do, George?" and "John, +how are you?" succeeded in the true English style, burying under +a calmness that seemed all but indifference, the real attachment +which would have led either of them, if requisite, to do every thing +for the good of the other. + +The evening was quiet and conversable, as Mr. Woodhouse declined +cards entirely for the sake of comfortable talk with his +dear Isabella, and the little party made two natural divisions; +on one side he and his daughter; on the other the two Mr. Knightleys; +their subjects totally distinct, or very rarely mixing--and Emma +only occasionally joining in one or the other. + +The brothers talked of their own concerns and pursuits, but principally +of those of the elder, whose temper was by much the most communicative, +and who was always the greater talker. As a magistrate, he had +generally some point of law to consult John about, or, at least, +some curious anecdote to give; and as a farmer, as keeping in hand +the home-farm at Donwell, he had to tell what every field was to bear +next year, and to give all such local information as could not fail +of being interesting to a brother whose home it had equally been +the longest part of his life, and whose attachments were strong. +The plan of a drain, the change of a fence, the felling of a tree, +and the destination of every acre for wheat, turnips, or spring corn, +was entered into with as much equality of interest by John, as his +cooler manners rendered possible; and if his willing brother ever +left him any thing to inquire about, his inquiries even approached +a tone of eagerness. + +While they were thus comfortably occupied, Mr. Woodhouse was enjoying +a full flow of happy regrets and fearful affection with his daughter. + +"My poor dear Isabella," said he, fondly taking her hand, +and interrupting, for a few moments, her busy labours for some one +of her five children--"How long it is, how terribly long since you +were here! And how tired you must be after your journey! You must +go to bed early, my dear--and I recommend a little gruel to you +before you go.--You and I will have a nice basin of gruel together. +My dear Emma, suppose we all have a little gruel." + +Emma could not suppose any such thing, knowing as she did, +that both the Mr. Knightleys were as unpersuadable on that article +as herself;--and two basins only were ordered. After a little +more discourse in praise of gruel, with some wondering at its +not being taken every evening by every body, he proceeded to say, +with an air of grave reflection, + +"It was an awkward business, my dear, your spending the autumn +at South End instead of coming here. I never had much opinion +of the sea air." + +"Mr. Wingfield most strenuously recommended it, sir--or we +should not have gone. He recommended it for all the children, +but particularly for the weakness in little Bella's throat,-- +both sea air and bathing." + +"Ah! my dear, but Perry had many doubts about the sea doing her +any good; and as to myself, I have been long perfectly convinced, +though perhaps I never told you so before, that the sea is very +rarely of use to any body. I am sure it almost killed me once." + +"Come, come," cried Emma, feeling this to be an unsafe subject, "I must +beg you not to talk of the sea. It makes me envious and miserable;-- +I who have never seen it! South End is prohibited, if you please. +My dear Isabella, I have not heard you make one inquiry about +Mr. Perry yet; and he never forgets you." + +"Oh! good Mr. Perry--how is he, sir?" + +"Why, pretty well; but not quite well. Poor Perry is bilious, +and he has not time to take care of himself--he tells me he has +not time to take care of himself--which is very sad--but he is +always wanted all round the country. I suppose there is not a man +in such practice anywhere. But then there is not so clever a man +any where." + +"And Mrs. Perry and the children, how are they? do the children grow? +I have a great regard for Mr. Perry. I hope he will be calling soon. +He will be so pleased to see my little ones." + +"I hope he will be here to-morrow, for I have a question or two to ask +him about myself of some consequence. And, my dear, whenever he comes, +you had better let him look at little Bella's throat." + +"Oh! my dear sir, her throat is so much better that I have hardly +any uneasiness about it. Either bathing has been of the greatest +service to her, or else it is to be attributed to an excellent +embrocation of Mr. Wingfield's, which we have been applying +at times ever since August." + +"It is not very likely, my dear, that bathing should have been +of use to her--and if I had known you were wanting an embrocation, +I would have spoken to-- + +"You seem to me to have forgotten Mrs. and Miss Bates," said Emma, +"I have not heard one inquiry after them." + +"Oh! the good Bateses--I am quite ashamed of myself--but you +mention them in most of your letters. I hope they are quite well. +Good old Mrs. Bates--I will call upon her to-morrow, and take +my children.--They are always so pleased to see my children.-- +And that excellent Miss Bates!--such thorough worthy people!-- +How are they, sir?" + +"Why, pretty well, my dear, upon the whole. But poor Mrs. Bates +had a bad cold about a month ago." + +"How sorry I am! But colds were never so prevalent as they have been +this autumn. Mr. Wingfield told me that he has never known them +more general or heavy--except when it has been quite an influenza." + +"That has been a good deal the case, my dear; but not to the degree +you mention. Perry says that colds have been very general, +but not so heavy as he has very often known them in November. +Perry does not call it altogether a sickly season." + +"No, I do not know that Mr. Wingfield considers it _very_ sickly except-- + +"Ah! my poor dear child, the truth is, that in London it is always +a sickly season. Nobody is healthy in London, nobody can be. +It is a dreadful thing to have you forced to live there! so far off!-- +and the air so bad!" + +"No, indeed--_we_ are not at all in a bad air. Our part of London is +very superior to most others!--You must not confound us with London +in general, my dear sir. The neighbourhood of Brunswick Square +is very different from almost all the rest. We are so very airy! +I should be unwilling, I own, to live in any other part of the town;-- +there is hardly any other that I could be satisfied to have my +children in: but _we_ are so remarkably airy!--Mr. Wingfield thinks +the vicinity of Brunswick Square decidedly the most favourable as +to air." + +"Ah! my dear, it is not like Hartfield. You make the best of it-- +but after you have been a week at Hartfield, you are all of you +different creatures; you do not look like the same. Now I cannot say, +that I think you are any of you looking well at present." + +"I am sorry to hear you say so, sir; but I assure you, excepting those +little nervous head-aches and palpitations which I am never entirely +free from anywhere, I am quite well myself; and if the children were +rather pale before they went to bed, it was only because they were +a little more tired than usual, from their journey and the happiness +of coming. I hope you will think better of their looks to-morrow; +for I assure you Mr. Wingfield told me, that he did not believe +he had ever sent us off altogether, in such good case. I trust, +at least, that you do not think Mr. Knightley looking ill," +turning her eyes with affectionate anxiety towards her husband. + +"Middling, my dear; I cannot compliment you. I think Mr. John +Knightley very far from looking well." + +"What is the matter, sir?--Did you speak to me?" cried Mr. John +Knightley, hearing his own name. + +"I am sorry to find, my love, that my father does not think you +looking well--but I hope it is only from being a little fatigued. +I could have wished, however, as you know, that you had seen +Mr. Wingfield before you left home." + +"My dear Isabella,"--exclaimed he hastily--"pray do not concern +yourself about my looks. Be satisfied with doctoring and coddling +yourself and the children, and let me look as I chuse." + +"I did not thoroughly understand what you were telling your brother," +cried Emma, "about your friend Mr. Graham's intending to have a bailiff +from Scotland, to look after his new estate. What will it answer? +Will not the old prejudice be too strong?" + +And she talked in this way so long and successfully that, when forced +to give her attention again to her father and sister, she had nothing +worse to hear than Isabella's kind inquiry after Jane Fairfax; +and Jane Fairfax, though no great favourite with her in general, +she was at that moment very happy to assist in praising. + +"That sweet, amiable Jane Fairfax!" said Mrs. John Knightley.-- +"It is so long since I have seen her, except now and then for a moment +accidentally in town! What happiness it must be to her good old +grandmother and excellent aunt, when she comes to visit them! +I always regret excessively on dear Emma's account that she cannot +be more at Highbury; but now their daughter is married, I suppose +Colonel and Mrs. Campbell will not be able to part with her at all. +She would be such a delightful companion for Emma." + +Mr. Woodhouse agreed to it all, but added, + +"Our little friend Harriet Smith, however, is just such another +pretty kind of young person. You will like Harriet. Emma could +not have a better companion than Harriet." + +"I am most happy to hear it--but only Jane Fairfax one knows to be +so very accomplished and superior!--and exactly Emma's age." + +This topic was discussed very happily, and others succeeded of +similar moment, and passed away with similar harmony; but the evening +did not close without a little return of agitation. The gruel came +and supplied a great deal to be said--much praise and many comments-- +undoubting decision of its wholesomeness for every constitution, +and pretty severe Philippics upon the many houses where it was +never met with tolerable;--but, unfortunately, among the failures +which the daughter had to instance, the most recent, and therefore +most prominent, was in her own cook at South End, a young woman +hired for the time, who never had been able to understand what she +meant by a basin of nice smooth gruel, thin, but not too thin. +Often as she had wished for and ordered it, she had never been able +to get any thing tolerable. Here was a dangerous opening. + +"Ah!" said Mr. Woodhouse, shaking his head and fixing his eyes on +her with tender concern.--The ejaculation in Emma's ear expressed, +"Ah! there is no end of the sad consequences of your going to +South End. It does not bear talking of." And for a little while +she hoped he would not talk of it, and that a silent rumination +might suffice to restore him to the relish of his own smooth gruel. +After an interval of some minutes, however, he began with, + +"I shall always be very sorry that you went to the sea this autumn, +instead of coming here." + +"But why should you be sorry, sir?--I assure you, it did the children +a great deal of good." + +"And, moreover, if you must go to the sea, it had better not +have been to South End. South End is an unhealthy place. +Perry was surprized to hear you had fixed upon South End." + +"I know there is such an idea with many people, but indeed it is +quite a mistake, sir.--We all had our health perfectly well there, +never found the least inconvenience from the mud; and Mr. Wingfield +says it is entirely a mistake to suppose the place unhealthy; +and I am sure he may be depended on, for he thoroughly understands +the nature of the air, and his own brother and family have been +there repeatedly." + +"You should have gone to Cromer, my dear, if you went anywhere.-- +Perry was a week at Cromer once, and he holds it to be the best +of all the sea-bathing places. A fine open sea, he says, and very +pure air. And, by what I understand, you might have had lodgings there +quite away from the sea--a quarter of a mile off--very comfortable. +You should have consulted Perry." + +"But, my dear sir, the difference of the journey;--only consider how +great it would have been.--An hundred miles, perhaps, instead of forty." + +"Ah! my dear, as Perry says, where health is at stake, nothing else +should be considered; and if one is to travel, there is not much +to chuse between forty miles and an hundred.--Better not move at all, +better stay in London altogether than travel forty miles to get +into a worse air. This is just what Perry said. It seemed to him +a very ill-judged measure." + +Emma's attempts to stop her father had been vain; and when he +had reached such a point as this, she could not wonder at her +brother-in-law's breaking out. + +"Mr. Perry," said he, in a voice of very strong displeasure, +"would do as well to keep his opinion till it is asked for. +Why does he make it any business of his, to wonder at what I do?-- +at my taking my family to one part of the coast or another?--I may +be allowed, I hope, the use of my judgment as well as Mr. Perry.-- +I want his directions no more than his drugs." He paused-- +and growing cooler in a moment, added, with only sarcastic dryness, +"If Mr. Perry can tell me how to convey a wife and five children +a distance of an hundred and thirty miles with no greater expense +or inconvenience than a distance of forty, I should be as willing to +prefer Cromer to South End as he could himself." + +"True, true," cried Mr. Knightley, with most ready interposition-- +"very true. That's a consideration indeed.--But John, as to what I +was telling you of my idea of moving the path to Langham, of turning +it more to the right that it may not cut through the home meadows, +I cannot conceive any difficulty. I should not attempt it, +if it were to be the means of inconvenience to the Highbury people, +but if you call to mind exactly the present line of the path. . . . +The only way of proving it, however, will be to turn to our maps. +I shall see you at the Abbey to-morrow morning I hope, and then we +will look them over, and you shall give me your opinion." + +Mr. Woodhouse was rather agitated by such harsh reflections on +his friend Perry, to whom he had, in fact, though unconsciously, +been attributing many of his own feelings and expressions;-- +but the soothing attentions of his daughters gradually removed +the present evil, and the immediate alertness of one brother, +and better recollections of the other, prevented any renewal of it. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +There could hardly be a happier creature in the world than Mrs. John +Knightley, in this short visit to Hartfield, going about every morning +among her old acquaintance with her five children, and talking +over what she had done every evening with her father and sister. +She had nothing to wish otherwise, but that the days did not pass +so swiftly. It was a delightful visit;--perfect, in being much too short. + +In general their evenings were less engaged with friends than +their mornings; but one complete dinner engagement, and out +of the house too, there was no avoiding, though at Christmas. +Mr. Weston would take no denial; they must all dine at Randalls +one day;--even Mr. Woodhouse was persuaded to think it a possible +thing in preference to a division of the party. + +How they were all to be conveyed, he would have made a difficulty +if he could, but as his son and daughter's carriage and horses +were actually at Hartfield, he was not able to make more than +a simple question on that head; it hardly amounted to a doubt; +nor did it occupy Emma long to convince him that they might in one +of the carriages find room for Harriet also. + +Harriet, Mr. Elton, and Mr. Knightley, their own especial set, +were the only persons invited to meet them;--the hours were to be early, +as well as the numbers few; Mr. Woodhouse's habits and inclination +being consulted in every thing. + +The evening before this great event (for it was a very great event +that Mr. Woodhouse should dine out, on the 24th of December) had been +spent by Harriet at Hartfield, and she had gone home so much indisposed +with a cold, that, but for her own earnest wish of being nursed +by Mrs. Goddard, Emma could not have allowed her to leave the house. +Emma called on her the next day, and found her doom already signed +with regard to Randalls. She was very feverish and had a bad +sore throat: Mrs. Goddard was full of care and affection, Mr. Perry +was talked of, and Harriet herself was too ill and low to resist +the authority which excluded her from this delightful engagement, +though she could not speak of her loss without many tears. + +Emma sat with her as long as she could, to attend her in Mrs. Goddard's +unavoidable absences, and raise her spirits by representing how much +Mr. Elton's would be depressed when he knew her state; and left her +at last tolerably comfortable, in the sweet dependence of his having +a most comfortless visit, and of their all missing her very much. +She had not advanced many yards from Mrs. Goddard's door, when she +was met by Mr. Elton himself, evidently coming towards it, and as +they walked on slowly together in conversation about the invalid-- +of whom he, on the rumour of considerable illness, had been going +to inquire, that he might carry some report of her to Hartfield-- +they were overtaken by Mr. John Knightley returning from the +daily visit to Donwell, with his two eldest boys, whose healthy, +glowing faces shewed all the benefit of a country run, and seemed +to ensure a quick despatch of the roast mutton and rice pudding they +were hastening home for. They joined company and proceeded together. +Emma was just describing the nature of her friend's complaint;-- +"a throat very much inflamed, with a great deal of heat about her, +a quick, low pulse, &c. and she was sorry to find from Mrs. Goddard +that Harriet was liable to very bad sore-throats, and had often +alarmed her with them." Mr. Elton looked all alarm on the occasion, +as he exclaimed, + +"A sore-throat!--I hope not infectious. I hope not of a putrid +infectious sort. Has Perry seen her? Indeed you should take care +of yourself as well as of your friend. Let me entreat you to run +no risks. Why does not Perry see her?" + +Emma, who was not really at all frightened herself, tranquillised this +excess of apprehension by assurances of Mrs. Goddard's experience +and care; but as there must still remain a degree of uneasiness +which she could not wish to reason away, which she would rather +feed and assist than not, she added soon afterwards--as if quite +another subject, + +"It is so cold, so very cold--and looks and feels so very much +like snow, that if it were to any other place or with any other party, +I should really try not to go out to-day--and dissuade my father +from venturing; but as he has made up his mind, and does not seem +to feel the cold himself, I do not like to interfere, as I know it +would be so great a disappointment to Mr. and Mrs. Weston. But, upon +my word, Mr. Elton, in your case, I should certainly excuse myself. +You appear to me a little hoarse already, and when you consider +what demand of voice and what fatigues to-morrow will bring, +I think it would be no more than common prudence to stay at home +and take care of yourself to-night." + +Mr. Elton looked as if he did not very well know what answer to make; +which was exactly the case; for though very much gratified by the kind +care of such a fair lady, and not liking to resist any advice of +her's, he had not really the least inclination to give up the visit;-- +but Emma, too eager and busy in her own previous conceptions +and views to hear him impartially, or see him with clear vision, +was very well satisfied with his muttering acknowledgment of its +being "very cold, certainly very cold," and walked on, rejoicing in +having extricated him from Randalls, and secured him the power +of sending to inquire after Harriet every hour of the evening. + +"You do quite right," said she;--"we will make your apologies +to Mr. and Mrs. Weston." + +But hardly had she so spoken, when she found her brother was civilly +offering a seat in his carriage, if the weather were Mr. Elton's +only objection, and Mr. Elton actually accepting the offer with much +prompt satisfaction. It was a done thing; Mr. Elton was to go, +and never had his broad handsome face expressed more pleasure than +at this moment; never had his smile been stronger, nor his eyes +more exulting than when he next looked at her. + +"Well," said she to herself, "this is most strange!--After I +had got him off so well, to chuse to go into company, and leave +Harriet ill behind!--Most strange indeed!--But there is, I believe, +in many men, especially single men, such an inclination-- +such a passion for dining out--a dinner engagement is so high in +the class of their pleasures, their employments, their dignities, +almost their duties, that any thing gives way to it--and this must +be the case with Mr. Elton; a most valuable, amiable, pleasing young +man undoubtedly, and very much in love with Harriet; but still, +he cannot refuse an invitation, he must dine out wherever he is asked. +What a strange thing love is! he can see ready wit in Harriet, +but will not dine alone for her." + +Soon afterwards Mr. Elton quitted them, and she could not but do him +the justice of feeling that there was a great deal of sentiment +in his manner of naming Harriet at parting; in the tone of his +voice while assuring her that he should call at Mrs. Goddard's +for news of her fair friend, the last thing before he prepared +for the happiness of meeting her again, when he hoped to be +able to give a better report; and he sighed and smiled himself +off in a way that left the balance of approbation much in his favour. + +After a few minutes of entire silence between them, John Knightley +began with-- + +"I never in my life saw a man more intent on being agreeable than +Mr. Elton. It is downright labour to him where ladies are concerned. +With men he can be rational and unaffected, but when he has ladies +to please, every feature works." + +"Mr. Elton's manners are not perfect," replied Emma; "but where there +is a wish to please, one ought to overlook, and one does overlook +a great deal. Where a man does his best with only moderate powers, +he will have the advantage over negligent superiority. There is +such perfect good-temper and good-will in Mr. Elton as one cannot +but value." + +"Yes," said Mr. John Knightley presently, with some slyness, +"he seems to have a great deal of good-will towards you." + +"Me!" she replied with a smile of astonishment, "are you imagining +me to be Mr. Elton's object?" + +"Such an imagination has crossed me, I own, Emma; and if it never +occurred to you before, you may as well take it into consideration now." + +"Mr. Elton in love with me!--What an idea!" + +"I do not say it is so; but you will do well to consider whether +it is so or not, and to regulate your behaviour accordingly. +I think your manners to him encouraging. I speak as a friend, +Emma. You had better look about you, and ascertain what you do, +and what you mean to do." + +"I thank you; but I assure you you are quite mistaken. Mr. Elton +and I are very good friends, and nothing more;" and she walked on, +amusing herself in the consideration of the blunders which often +arise from a partial knowledge of circumstances, of the mistakes +which people of high pretensions to judgment are for ever falling into; +and not very well pleased with her brother for imagining her blind +and ignorant, and in want of counsel. He said no more. + +Mr. Woodhouse had so completely made up his mind to the visit, +that in spite of the increasing coldness, he seemed to have no idea +of shrinking from it, and set forward at last most punctually +with his eldest daughter in his own carriage, with less apparent +consciousness of the weather than either of the others; too full +of the wonder of his own going, and the pleasure it was to afford at +Randalls to see that it was cold, and too well wrapt up to feel it. +The cold, however, was severe; and by the time the second carriage +was in motion, a few flakes of snow were finding their way down, +and the sky had the appearance of being so overcharged as to want only +a milder air to produce a very white world in a very short time. + +Emma soon saw that her companion was not in the happiest humour. +The preparing and the going abroad in such weather, with the sacrifice +of his children after dinner, were evils, were disagreeables at least, +which Mr. John Knightley did not by any means like; he anticipated +nothing in the visit that could be at all worth the purchase; +and the whole of their drive to the vicarage was spent by him in +expressing his discontent. + +"A man," said he, "must have a very good opinion of himself when +he asks people to leave their own fireside, and encounter such +a day as this, for the sake of coming to see him. He must think +himself a most agreeable fellow; I could not do such a thing. +It is the greatest absurdity--Actually snowing at this moment!-- +The folly of not allowing people to be comfortable at home--and the +folly of people's not staying comfortably at home when they can! +If we were obliged to go out such an evening as this, by any call of +duty or business, what a hardship we should deem it;--and here are we, +probably with rather thinner clothing than usual, setting forward +voluntarily, without excuse, in defiance of the voice of nature, +which tells man, in every thing given to his view or his feelings, +to stay at home himself, and keep all under shelter that he can;-- +here are we setting forward to spend five dull hours in another +man's house, with nothing to say or to hear that was not said +and heard yesterday, and may not be said and heard again to-morrow. +Going in dismal weather, to return probably in worse;--four horses +and four servants taken out for nothing but to convey five idle, +shivering creatures into colder rooms and worse company than they +might have had at home." + +Emma did not find herself equal to give the pleased assent, which no doubt +he was in the habit of receiving, to emulate the "Very true, my love," +which must have been usually administered by his travelling companion; +but she had resolution enough to refrain from making any answer +at all. She could not be complying, she dreaded being quarrelsome; +her heroism reached only to silence. She allowed him to talk, +and arranged the glasses, and wrapped herself up, without opening +her lips. + +They arrived, the carriage turned, the step was let down, +and Mr. Elton, spruce, black, and smiling, was with them instantly. +Emma thought with pleasure of some change of subject. Mr. Elton +was all obligation and cheerfulness; he was so very cheerful +in his civilities indeed, that she began to think he must have +received a different account of Harriet from what had reached her. +She had sent while dressing, and the answer had been, "Much the same-- +not better." + +"_My_ report from Mrs. Goddard's," said she presently, "was not +so pleasant as I had hoped--`Not better' was _my_ answer." + +His face lengthened immediately; and his voice was the voice +of sentiment as he answered. + +"Oh! no--I am grieved to find--I was on the point of telling you that +when I called at Mrs. Goddard's door, which I did the very last thing +before I returned to dress, I was told that Miss Smith was not better, +by no means better, rather worse. Very much grieved and concerned-- +I had flattered myself that she must be better after such a cordial +as I knew had been given her in the morning." + +Emma smiled and answered--"My visit was of use to the nervous part +of her complaint, I hope; but not even I can charm away a sore throat; +it is a most severe cold indeed. Mr. Perry has been with her, +as you probably heard." + +"Yes--I imagined--that is--I did not--" + +"He has been used to her in these complaints, and I hope to-morrow +morning will bring us both a more comfortable report. But it is +impossible not to feel uneasiness. Such a sad loss to our party to-day!" + +"Dreadful!--Exactly so, indeed.--She will be missed every moment." + +This was very proper; the sigh which accompanied it was really estimable; +but it should have lasted longer. Emma was rather in dismay when +only half a minute afterwards he began to speak of other things, +and in a voice of the greatest alacrity and enjoyment. + +"What an excellent device," said he, "the use of a sheepskin +for carriages. How very comfortable they make it;--impossible to +feel cold with such precautions. The contrivances of modern days +indeed have rendered a gentleman's carriage perfectly complete. +One is so fenced and guarded from the weather, that not a breath +of air can find its way unpermitted. Weather becomes absolutely +of no consequence. It is a very cold afternoon--but in this carriage +we know nothing of the matter.--Ha! snows a little I see." + +"Yes," said John Knightley, "and I think we shall have a good deal +of it." + +"Christmas weather," observed Mr. Elton. "Quite seasonable; +and extremely fortunate we may think ourselves that it did not +begin yesterday, and prevent this day's party, which it might very +possibly have done, for Mr. Woodhouse would hardly have ventured had +there been much snow on the ground; but now it is of no consequence. +This is quite the season indeed for friendly meetings. At Christmas +every body invites their friends about them, and people think little +of even the worst weather. I was snowed up at a friend's house once +for a week. Nothing could be pleasanter. I went for only one night, +and could not get away till that very day se'nnight." + +Mr. John Knightley looked as if he did not comprehend the pleasure, +but said only, coolly, + +"I cannot wish to be snowed up a week at Randalls." + +At another time Emma might have been amused, but she was too +much astonished now at Mr. Elton's spirits for other feelings. +Harriet seemed quite forgotten in the expectation of a pleasant party. + +"We are sure of excellent fires," continued he, "and every thing +in the greatest comfort. Charming people, Mr. and Mrs. Weston;-- +Mrs. Weston indeed is much beyond praise, and he is exactly +what one values, so hospitable, and so fond of society;-- +it will be a small party, but where small parties are select, +they are perhaps the most agreeable of any. Mr. Weston's dining-room +does not accommodate more than ten comfortably; and for my part, +I would rather, under such circumstances, fall short by two than +exceed by two. I think you will agree with me, (turning with a soft +air to Emma,) I think I shall certainly have your approbation, +though Mr. Knightley perhaps, from being used to the large parties +of London, may not quite enter into our feelings." + +"I know nothing of the large parties of London, sir--I never dine +with any body." + +"Indeed! (in a tone of wonder and pity,) I had no idea that the +law had been so great a slavery. Well, sir, the time must come +when you will be paid for all this, when you will have little +labour and great enjoyment." + +"My first enjoyment," replied John Knightley, as they passed through +the sweep-gate, "will be to find myself safe at Hartfield again." + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +Some change of countenance was necessary for each gentleman +as they walked into Mrs. Weston's drawing-room;--Mr. Elton must +compose his joyous looks, and Mr. John Knightley disperse his +ill-humour. Mr. Elton must smile less, and Mr. John Knightley more, +to fit them for the place.--Emma only might be as nature prompted, +and shew herself just as happy as she was. To her it was real +enjoyment to be with the Westons. Mr. Weston was a great favourite, +and there was not a creature in the world to whom she spoke with +such unreserve, as to his wife; not any one, to whom she related +with such conviction of being listened to and understood, of being +always interesting and always intelligible, the little affairs, +arrangements, perplexities, and pleasures of her father and herself. +She could tell nothing of Hartfield, in which Mrs. Weston had not +a lively concern; and half an hour's uninterrupted communication +of all those little matters on which the daily happiness of private +life depends, was one of the first gratifications of each. + +This was a pleasure which perhaps the whole day's visit might +not afford, which certainly did not belong to the present half-hour; +but the very sight of Mrs. Weston, her smile, her touch, her voice +was grateful to Emma, and she determined to think as little as +possible of Mr. Elton's oddities, or of any thing else unpleasant, +and enjoy all that was enjoyable to the utmost. + +The misfortune of Harriet's cold had been pretty well gone through +before her arrival. Mr. Woodhouse had been safely seated long +enough to give the history of it, besides all the history of his own +and Isabella's coming, and of Emma's being to follow, and had indeed +just got to the end of his satisfaction that James should come +and see his daughter, when the others appeared, and Mrs. Weston, +who had been almost wholly engrossed by her attentions to him, +was able to turn away and welcome her dear Emma. + +Emma's project of forgetting Mr. Elton for a while made her rather +sorry to find, when they had all taken their places, that he was +close to her. The difficulty was great of driving his strange +insensibility towards Harriet, from her mind, while he not only sat +at her elbow, but was continually obtruding his happy countenance +on her notice, and solicitously addressing her upon every occasion. +Instead of forgetting him, his behaviour was such that she could +not avoid the internal suggestion of "Can it really be as my brother +imagined? can it be possible for this man to be beginning to transfer +his affections from Harriet to me?--Absurd and insufferable!"-- +Yet he would be so anxious for her being perfectly warm, would be +so interested about her father, and so delighted with Mrs. Weston; +and at last would begin admiring her drawings with so much zeal +and so little knowledge as seemed terribly like a would-be lover, +and made it some effort with her to preserve her good manners. +For her own sake she could not be rude; and for Harriet's, in the hope +that all would yet turn out right, she was even positively civil; +but it was an effort; especially as something was going on amongst +the others, in the most overpowering period of Mr. Elton's nonsense, +which she particularly wished to listen to. She heard enough +to know that Mr. Weston was giving some information about his son; +she heard the words "my son," and "Frank," and "my son," +repeated several times over; and, from a few other half-syllables +very much suspected that he was announcing an early visit from +his son; but before she could quiet Mr. Elton, the subject was +so completely past that any reviving question from her would have +been awkward. + +Now, it so happened that in spite of Emma's resolution of never marrying, +there was something in the name, in the idea of Mr. Frank Churchill, +which always interested her. She had frequently thought--especially since +his father's marriage with Miss Taylor--that if she _were_ to marry, +he was the very person to suit her in age, character and condition. +He seemed by this connexion between the families, quite to belong to her. +She could not but suppose it to be a match that every body who knew +them must think of. That Mr. and Mrs. Weston did think of it, she was +very strongly persuaded; and though not meaning to be induced by him, +or by any body else, to give up a situation which she believed more +replete with good than any she could change it for, she had a great +curiosity to see him, a decided intention of finding him pleasant, +of being liked by him to a certain degree, and a sort of pleasure +in the idea of their being coupled in their friends' imaginations. + +With such sensations, Mr. Elton's civilities were dreadfully ill-timed; +but she had the comfort of appearing very polite, while feeling +very cross--and of thinking that the rest of the visit could not +possibly pass without bringing forward the same information again, +or the substance of it, from the open-hearted Mr. Weston.--So it proved;-- +for when happily released from Mr. Elton, and seated by Mr. Weston, +at dinner, he made use of the very first interval in the cares +of hospitality, the very first leisure from the saddle of mutton, +to say to her, + +"We want only two more to be just the right number. I should +like to see two more here,--your pretty little friend, Miss Smith, +and my son--and then I should say we were quite complete. +I believe you did not hear me telling the others in the drawing-room +that we are expecting Frank. I had a letter from him this morning, +and he will be with us within a fortnight." + +Emma spoke with a very proper degree of pleasure; and fully assented +to his proposition of Mr. Frank Churchill and Miss Smith making +their party quite complete. + +"He has been wanting to come to us," continued Mr. Weston, +"ever since September: every letter has been full of it; +but he cannot command his own time. He has those to please +who must be pleased, and who (between ourselves) are sometimes +to be pleased only by a good many sacrifices. But now +I have no doubt of seeing him here about the second week in January." + +"What a very great pleasure it will be to you! and Mrs. Weston +is so anxious to be acquainted with him, that she must be almost +as happy as yourself." + +"Yes, she would be, but that she thinks there will be another +put-off. She does not depend upon his coming so much as I do: +but she does not know the parties so well as I do. The case, +you see, is--(but this is quite between ourselves: I did not mention +a syllable of it in the other room. There are secrets in all families, +you know)--The case is, that a party of friends are invited to pay +a visit at Enscombe in January; and that Frank's coming depends upon +their being put off. If they are not put off, he cannot stir. +But I know they will, because it is a family that a certain lady, +of some consequence, at Enscombe, has a particular dislike to: +and though it is thought necessary to invite them once in two or +three years, they always are put off when it comes to the point. +I have not the smallest doubt of the issue. I am as confident +of seeing Frank here before the middle of January, as I am +of being here myself: but your good friend there (nodding +towards the upper end of the table) has so few vagaries herself, +and has been so little used to them at Hartfield, that she cannot +calculate on their effects, as I have been long in the practice +of doing." + +"I am sorry there should be any thing like doubt in the case," +replied Emma; "but am disposed to side with you, Mr. Weston. If you +think he will come, I shall think so too; for you know Enscombe." + +"Yes--I have some right to that knowledge; though I have never been +at the place in my life.--She is an odd woman!--But I never allow +myself to speak ill of her, on Frank's account; for I do believe +her to be very fond of him. I used to think she was not capable +of being fond of any body, except herself: but she has always been +kind to him (in her way--allowing for little whims and caprices, +and expecting every thing to be as she likes). And it is no small credit, +in my opinion, to him, that he should excite such an affection; +for, though I would not say it to any body else, she has no more +heart than a stone to people in general; and the devil of a temper." + +Emma liked the subject so well, that she began upon it, to Mrs. Weston, +very soon after their moving into the drawing-room: wishing her joy-- +yet observing, that she knew the first meeting must be rather alarming.-- +Mrs. Weston agreed to it; but added, that she should be very +glad to be secure of undergoing the anxiety of a first meeting +at the time talked of: "for I cannot depend upon his coming. +I cannot be so sanguine as Mr. Weston. I am very much afraid +that it will all end in nothing. Mr. Weston, I dare say, has been +telling you exactly how the matter stands?" + +"Yes--it seems to depend upon nothing but the ill-humour +of Mrs. Churchill, which I imagine to be the most certain +thing in the world." + +"My Emma!" replied Mrs. Weston, smiling, "what is the certainty +of caprice?" Then turning to Isabella, who had not been +attending before--"You must know, my dear Mrs. Knightley, +that we are by no means so sure of seeing Mr. Frank Churchill, +in my opinion, as his father thinks. It depends entirely upon +his aunt's spirits and pleasure; in short, upon her temper. +To you--to my two daughters--I may venture on the truth. +Mrs. Churchill rules at Enscombe, and is a very odd-tempered woman; +and his coming now, depends upon her being willing to spare him." + +"Oh, Mrs. Churchill; every body knows Mrs. Churchill," +replied Isabella: "and I am sure I never think of that poor young +man without the greatest compassion. To be constantly living +with an ill-tempered person, must be dreadful. It is what we +happily have never known any thing of; but it must be a life +of misery. What a blessing, that she never had any children! +Poor little creatures, how unhappy she would have made them!" + +Emma wished she had been alone with Mrs. Weston. She should then have +heard more: Mrs. Weston would speak to her, with a degree of unreserve +which she would not hazard with Isabella; and, she really believed, +would scarcely try to conceal any thing relative to the Churchills +from her, excepting those views on the young man, of which her own +imagination had already given her such instinctive knowledge. +But at present there was nothing more to be said. Mr. Woodhouse +very soon followed them into the drawing-room. To be sitting +long after dinner, was a confinement that he could not endure. +Neither wine nor conversation was any thing to him; and gladly did +he move to those with whom he was always comfortable. + +While he talked to Isabella, however, Emma found an opportunity +of saying, + +"And so you do not consider this visit from your son as by any +means certain. I am sorry for it. The introduction must be unpleasant, +whenever it takes place; and the sooner it could be over, the better." + +"Yes; and every delay makes one more apprehensive of other delays. +Even if this family, the Braithwaites, are put off, I am still +afraid that some excuse may be found for disappointing us. +I cannot bear to imagine any reluctance on his side; but I am sure +there is a great wish on the Churchills' to keep him to themselves. +There is jealousy. They are jealous even of his regard for his father. +In short, I can feel no dependence on his coming, and I wish Mr. Weston +were less sanguine." + +"He ought to come," said Emma. "If he could stay only a couple +of days, he ought to come; and one can hardly conceive a young man's +not having it in his power to do as much as that. A young _woman_, +if she fall into bad hands, may be teazed, and kept at a distance +from those she wants to be with; but one cannot comprehend a young +_man_'s being under such restraint, as not to be able to spend a week +with his father, if he likes it." + +"One ought to be at Enscombe, and know the ways of the family, +before one decides upon what he can do," replied Mrs. Weston. +"One ought to use the same caution, perhaps, in judging of the +conduct of any one individual of any one family; but Enscombe, +I believe, certainly must not be judged by general rules: +_she_ is so very unreasonable; and every thing gives way to her." + +"But she is so fond of the nephew: he is so very great a favourite. +Now, according to my idea of Mrs. Churchill, it would be most natural, +that while she makes no sacrifice for the comfort of the husband, +to whom she owes every thing, while she exercises incessant caprice +towards _him_, she should frequently be governed by the nephew, +to whom she owes nothing at all." + +"My dearest Emma, do not pretend, with your sweet temper, +to understand a bad one, or to lay down rules for it: you must +let it go its own way. I have no doubt of his having, at times, +considerable influence; but it may be perfectly impossible for him +to know beforehand _when_ it will be." + +Emma listened, and then coolly said, "I shall not be satisfied, +unless he comes." + +"He may have a great deal of influence on some points," +continued Mrs. Weston, "and on others, very little: and among those, +on which she is beyond his reach, it is but too likely, may be +this very circumstance of his coming away from them to visit us." + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Mr. Woodhouse was soon ready for his tea; and when he had drank his +tea he was quite ready to go home; and it was as much as his three +companions could do, to entertain away his notice of the lateness +of the hour, before the other gentlemen appeared. Mr. Weston was +chatty and convivial, and no friend to early separations of any sort; +but at last the drawing-room party did receive an augmentation. +Mr. Elton, in very good spirits, was one of the first to walk in. +Mrs. Weston and Emma were sitting together on a sofa. He joined +them immediately, and, with scarcely an invitation, seated himself +between them. + +Emma, in good spirits too, from the amusement afforded her mind +by the expectation of Mr. Frank Churchill, was willing to forget +his late improprieties, and be as well satisfied with him as before, +and on his making Harriet his very first subject, was ready to listen +with most friendly smiles. + +He professed himself extremely anxious about her fair friend-- +her fair, lovely, amiable friend. "Did she know?--had she +heard any thing about her, since their being at Randalls?-- +he felt much anxiety--he must confess that the nature of her +complaint alarmed him considerably." And in this style he talked +on for some time very properly, not much attending to any answer, +but altogether sufficiently awake to the terror of a bad sore throat; +and Emma was quite in charity with him. + +But at last there seemed a perverse turn; it seemed all at once as if +he were more afraid of its being a bad sore throat on her account, +than on Harriet's--more anxious that she should escape the infection, +than that there should be no infection in the complaint. He began +with great earnestness to entreat her to refrain from visiting +the sick-chamber again, for the present--to entreat her to _promise_ +_him_ not to venture into such hazard till he had seen Mr. Perry +and learnt his opinion; and though she tried to laugh it off +and bring the subject back into its proper course, there was no +putting an end to his extreme solicitude about her. She was vexed. +It did appear--there was no concealing it--exactly like the pretence +of being in love with her, instead of Harriet; an inconstancy, +if real, the most contemptible and abominable! and she had difficulty +in behaving with temper. He turned to Mrs. Weston to implore +her assistance, "Would not she give him her support?--would not she +add her persuasions to his, to induce Miss Woodhouse not to go +to Mrs. Goddard's till it were certain that Miss Smith's disorder +had no infection? He could not be satisfied without a promise-- +would not she give him her influence in procuring it?" + +"So scrupulous for others," he continued, "and yet so careless +for herself! She wanted me to nurse my cold by staying at home to-day, +and yet will not promise to avoid the danger of catching an ulcerated +sore throat herself. Is this fair, Mrs. Weston?--Judge between us. +Have not I some right to complain? I am sure of your kind support +and aid." + +Emma saw Mrs. Weston's surprize, and felt that it must be great, +at an address which, in words and manner, was assuming to himself +the right of first interest in her; and as for herself, she was +too much provoked and offended to have the power of directly +saying any thing to the purpose. She could only give him a look; +but it was such a look as she thought must restore him to his senses, +and then left the sofa, removing to a seat by her sister, and giving +her all her attention. + +She had not time to know how Mr. Elton took the reproof, so rapidly +did another subject succeed; for Mr. John Knightley now came +into the room from examining the weather, and opened on them +all with the information of the ground being covered with snow, +and of its still snowing fast, with a strong drifting wind; +concluding with these words to Mr. Woodhouse: + +"This will prove a spirited beginning of your winter engagements, +sir. Something new for your coachman and horses to be making +their way through a storm of snow." + +Poor Mr. Woodhouse was silent from consternation; but every body else +had something to say; every body was either surprized or not surprized, +and had some question to ask, or some comfort to offer. Mrs. Weston +and Emma tried earnestly to cheer him and turn his attention +from his son-in-law, who was pursuing his triumph rather unfeelingly. + +"I admired your resolution very much, sir," said he, "in venturing +out in such weather, for of course you saw there would be snow +very soon. Every body must have seen the snow coming on. +I admired your spirit; and I dare say we shall get home very well. +Another hour or two's snow can hardly make the road impassable; +and we are two carriages; if one is blown over in the bleak part +of the common field there will be the other at hand. I dare say we +shall be all safe at Hartfield before midnight." + +Mr. Weston, with triumph of a different sort, was confessing that he +had known it to be snowing some time, but had not said a word, +lest it should make Mr. Woodhouse uncomfortable, and be an excuse +for his hurrying away. As to there being any quantity of snow fallen +or likely to fall to impede their return, that was a mere joke; +he was afraid they would find no difficulty. He wished the road might +be impassable, that he might be able to keep them all at Randalls; +and with the utmost good-will was sure that accommodation might +be found for every body, calling on his wife to agree with him, +that with a little contrivance, every body might be lodged, +which she hardly knew how to do, from the consciousness of there +being but two spare rooms in the house. + +"What is to be done, my dear Emma?--what is to be done?" +was Mr. Woodhouse's first exclamation, and all that he could say +for some time. To her he looked for comfort; and her assurances +of safety, her representation of the excellence of the horses, +and of James, and of their having so many friends about them, +revived him a little. + +His eldest daughter's alarm was equal to his own. The horror of +being blocked up at Randalls, while her children were at Hartfield, +was full in her imagination; and fancying the road to be now just +passable for adventurous people, but in a state that admitted no delay, +she was eager to have it settled, that her father and Emma should remain +at Randalls, while she and her husband set forward instantly through +all the possible accumulations of drifted snow that might impede them. + +"You had better order the carriage directly, my love," said she; +"I dare say we shall be able to get along, if we set off directly; +and if we do come to any thing very bad, I can get out and walk. +I am not at all afraid. I should not mind walking half the way. +I could change my shoes, you know, the moment I got home; and it is not +the sort of thing that gives me cold." + +"Indeed!" replied he. "Then, my dear Isabella, it is the most +extraordinary sort of thing in the world, for in general every +thing does give you cold. Walk home!--you are prettily shod +for walking home, I dare say. It will be bad enough for the horses." + +Isabella turned to Mrs. Weston for her approbation of the plan. +Mrs. Weston could only approve. Isabella then went to Emma; +but Emma could not so entirely give up the hope of their being +all able to get away; and they were still discussing the point, +when Mr. Knightley, who had left the room immediately after his +brother's first report of the snow, came back again, and told them +that he had been out of doors to examine, and could answer for there +not being the smallest difficulty in their getting home, whenever they +liked it, either now or an hour hence. He had gone beyond the sweep-- +some way along the Highbury road--the snow was nowhere above half +an inch deep--in many places hardly enough to whiten the ground; +a very few flakes were falling at present, but the clouds were parting, +and there was every appearance of its being soon over. He had seen +the coachmen, and they both agreed with him in there being nothing +to apprehend. + +To Isabella, the relief of such tidings was very great, and they +were scarcely less acceptable to Emma on her father's account, +who was immediately set as much at ease on the subject as his nervous +constitution allowed; but the alarm that had been raised could not +be appeased so as to admit of any comfort for him while he continued +at Randalls. He was satisfied of there being no present danger in +returning home, but no assurances could convince him that it was safe +to stay; and while the others were variously urging and recommending, +Mr. Knightley and Emma settled it in a few brief sentences: thus-- + +"Your father will not be easy; why do not you go?" + +"I am ready, if the others are." + +"Shall I ring the bell?" + +"Yes, do." + +And the bell was rung, and the carriages spoken for. A few +minutes more, and Emma hoped to see one troublesome companion +deposited in his own house, to get sober and cool, and the other +recover his temper and happiness when this visit of hardship were over. + +The carriage came: and Mr. Woodhouse, always the first object on +such occasions, was carefully attended to his own by Mr. Knightley +and Mr. Weston; but not all that either could say could prevent some +renewal of alarm at the sight of the snow which had actually fallen, +and the discovery of a much darker night than he had been prepared for. +"He was afraid they should have a very bad drive. He was afraid +poor Isabella would not like it. And there would be poor Emma +in the carriage behind. He did not know what they had best do. +They must keep as much together as they could;" and James was talked to, +and given a charge to go very slow and wait for the other carriage. + +Isabella stept in after her father; John Knightley, forgetting that he +did not belong to their party, stept in after his wife very naturally; +so that Emma found, on being escorted and followed into the second +carriage by Mr. Elton, that the door was to be lawfully shut on them, +and that they were to have a tete-a-tete drive. It would not have been +the awkwardness of a moment, it would have been rather a pleasure, +previous to the suspicions of this very day; she could have talked +to him of Harriet, and the three-quarters of a mile would have +seemed but one. But now, she would rather it had not happened. +She believed he had been drinking too much of Mr. Weston's good wine, +and felt sure that he would want to be talking nonsense. + +To restrain him as much as might be, by her own manners, she was +immediately preparing to speak with exquisite calmness and gravity +of the weather and the night; but scarcely had she begun, scarcely had +they passed the sweep-gate and joined the other carriage, than she +found her subject cut up--her hand seized--her attention demanded, +and Mr. Elton actually making violent love to her: availing himself +of the precious opportunity, declaring sentiments which must be already +well known, hoping--fearing--adoring--ready to die if she refused him; +but flattering himself that his ardent attachment and unequalled +love and unexampled passion could not fail of having some effect, +and in short, very much resolved on being seriously accepted as soon +as possible. It really was so. Without scruple--without apology-- +without much apparent diffidence, Mr. Elton, the lover of Harriet, +was professing himself _her_ lover. She tried to stop him; but vainly; +he would go on, and say it all. Angry as she was, the thought of +the moment made her resolve to restrain herself when she did speak. +She felt that half this folly must be drunkenness, and therefore +could hope that it might belong only to the passing hour. +Accordingly, with a mixture of the serious and the playful, which she +hoped would best suit his half and half state, she replied, + +"I am very much astonished, Mr. Elton. This to _me_! you forget yourself-- +you take me for my friend--any message to Miss Smith I shall +be happy to deliver; but no more of this to _me_, if you please." + +"Miss Smith!--message to Miss Smith!--What could she possibly mean!"-- +And he repeated her words with such assurance of accent, such boastful +pretence of amazement, that she could not help replying with quickness, + +"Mr. Elton, this is the most extraordinary conduct! and I can account +for it only in one way; you are not yourself, or you could not speak +either to me, or of Harriet, in such a manner. Command yourself +enough to say no more, and I will endeavour to forget it." + +But Mr. Elton had only drunk wine enough to elevate his spirits, +not at all to confuse his intellects. He perfectly knew his own meaning; +and having warmly protested against her suspicion as most injurious, +and slightly touched upon his respect for Miss Smith as her friend,-- +but acknowledging his wonder that Miss Smith should be mentioned +at all,--he resumed the subject of his own passion, and was very +urgent for a favourable answer. + +As she thought less of his inebriety, she thought more of his inconstancy +and presumption; and with fewer struggles for politeness, replied, + +"It is impossible for me to doubt any longer. You have made +yourself too clear. Mr. Elton, my astonishment is much beyond +any thing I can express. After such behaviour, as I have witnessed +during the last month, to Miss Smith--such attentions as I +have been in the daily habit of observing--to be addressing me +in this manner--this is an unsteadiness of character, indeed, +which I had not supposed possible! Believe me, sir, I am far, +very far, from gratified in being the object of such professions." + +"Good Heaven!" cried Mr. Elton, "what can be the meaning of this?-- +Miss Smith!--I never thought of Miss Smith in the whole course +of my existence--never paid her any attentions, but as your friend: +never cared whether she were dead or alive, but as your friend. +If she has fancied otherwise, her own wishes have misled her, +and I am very sorry--extremely sorry--But, Miss Smith, indeed!--Oh! +Miss Woodhouse! who can think of Miss Smith, when Miss Woodhouse +is near! No, upon my honour, there is no unsteadiness of character. +I have thought only of you. I protest against having paid the smallest +attention to any one else. Every thing that I have said or done, +for many weeks past, has been with the sole view of marking my +adoration of yourself. You cannot really, seriously, doubt it. +No!--(in an accent meant to be insinuating)--I am sure you have seen +and understood me." + +It would be impossible to say what Emma felt, on hearing this-- +which of all her unpleasant sensations was uppermost. She was +too completely overpowered to be immediately able to reply: +and two moments of silence being ample encouragement for Mr. Elton's +sanguine state of mind, he tried to take her hand again, as he +joyously exclaimed-- + +"Charming Miss Woodhouse! allow me to interpret this interesting silence. +It confesses that you have long understood me." + +"No, sir," cried Emma, "it confesses no such thing. So far from +having long understood you, I have been in a most complete error +with respect to your views, till this moment. As to myself, I am +very sorry that you should have been giving way to any feelings-- +Nothing could be farther from my wishes--your attachment to my +friend Harriet--your pursuit of her, (pursuit, it appeared,) gave me +great pleasure, and I have been very earnestly wishing you success: +but had I supposed that she were not your attraction to Hartfield, +I should certainly have thought you judged ill in making your visits +so frequent. Am I to believe that you have never sought to recommend +yourself particularly to Miss Smith?--that you have never thought +seriously of her?" + +"Never, madam," cried he, affronted in his turn: "never, I assure you. +_I_ think seriously of Miss Smith!--Miss Smith is a very good sort +of girl; and I should be happy to see her respectably settled. +I wish her extremely well: and, no doubt, there are men who might not +object to--Every body has their level: but as for myself, I am not, +I think, quite so much at a loss. I need not so totally despair +of an equal alliance, as to be addressing myself to Miss Smith!-- +No, madam, my visits to Hartfield have been for yourself only; +and the encouragement I received--" + +"Encouragement!--I give you encouragement!--Sir, you have been entirely +mistaken in supposing it. I have seen you only as the admirer +of my friend. In no other light could you have been more to me than +a common acquaintance. I am exceedingly sorry: but it is well that +the mistake ends where it does. Had the same behaviour continued, +Miss Smith might have been led into a misconception of your views; +not being aware, probably, any more than myself, of the very +great inequality which you are so sensible of. But, as it is, +the disappointment is single, and, I trust, will not be lasting. +I have no thoughts of matrimony at present." + +He was too angry to say another word; her manner too decided +to invite supplication; and in this state of swelling resentment, +and mutually deep mortification, they had to continue together a few +minutes longer, for the fears of Mr. Woodhouse had confined them +to a foot-pace. If there had not been so much anger, there would have +been desperate awkwardness; but their straightforward emotions left +no room for the little zigzags of embarrassment. Without knowing +when the carriage turned into Vicarage Lane, or when it stopped, +they found themselves, all at once, at the door of his house; +and he was out before another syllable passed.--Emma then felt it +indispensable to wish him a good night. The compliment was just returned, +coldly and proudly; and, under indescribable irritation of spirits, +she was then conveyed to Hartfield. + +There she was welcomed, with the utmost delight, by her father, +who had been trembling for the dangers of a solitary drive from +Vicarage Lane--turning a corner which he could never bear to think of-- +and in strange hands--a mere common coachman--no James; and there it +seemed as if her return only were wanted to make every thing go well: +for Mr. John Knightley, ashamed of his ill-humour, was now all +kindness and attention; and so particularly solicitous for the comfort +of her father, as to seem--if not quite ready to join him in a basin +of gruel--perfectly sensible of its being exceedingly wholesome; +and the day was concluding in peace and comfort to all their little party, +except herself.--But her mind had never been in such perturbation; +and it needed a very strong effort to appear attentive and cheerful till +the usual hour of separating allowed her the relief of quiet reflection. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +The hair was curled, and the maid sent away, and Emma sat down to think +and be miserable.--It was a wretched business indeed!--Such an overthrow +of every thing she had been wishing for!--Such a development of every +thing most unwelcome!--Such a blow for Harriet!--that was the worst +of all. Every part of it brought pain and humiliation, of some sort +or other; but, compared with the evil to Harriet, all was light; +and she would gladly have submitted to feel yet more mistaken-- +more in error--more disgraced by mis-judgment, than she actually was, +could the effects of her blunders have been confined to herself. + +"If I had not persuaded Harriet into liking the man, I could have +borne any thing. He might have doubled his presumption to me-- +but poor Harriet!" + +How she could have been so deceived!--He protested that he +had never thought seriously of Harriet--never! She looked back +as well as she could; but it was all confusion. She had taken +up the idea, she supposed, and made every thing bend to it. +His manners, however, must have been unmarked, wavering, dubious, +or she could not have been so misled. + +The picture!--How eager he had been about the picture!-- +and the charade!--and an hundred other circumstances;-- +how clearly they had seemed to point at Harriet. To be sure, +the charade, with its "ready wit"--but then the "soft eyes"-- +in fact it suited neither; it was a jumble without taste or truth. +Who could have seen through such thick-headed nonsense? + +Certainly she had often, especially of late, thought his manners +to herself unnecessarily gallant; but it had passed as his way, +as a mere error of judgment, of knowledge, of taste, as one proof +among others that he had not always lived in the best society, +that with all the gentleness of his address, true elegance +was sometimes wanting; but, till this very day, she had never, +for an instant, suspected it to mean any thing but grateful respect +to her as Harriet's friend. + +To Mr. John Knightley was she indebted for her first idea on +the subject, for the first start of its possibility. There was +no denying that those brothers had penetration. She remembered +what Mr. Knightley had once said to her about Mr. Elton, the caution +he had given, the conviction he had professed that Mr. Elton would +never marry indiscreetly; and blushed to think how much truer +a knowledge of his character had been there shewn than any she +had reached herself. It was dreadfully mortifying; but Mr. Elton +was proving himself, in many respects, the very reverse of what she +had meant and believed him; proud, assuming, conceited; very full +of his own claims, and little concerned about the feelings of others. + +Contrary to the usual course of things, Mr. Elton's wanting +to pay his addresses to her had sunk him in her opinion. +His professions and his proposals did him no service. She thought +nothing of his attachment, and was insulted by his hopes. +He wanted to marry well, and having the arrogance to raise his +eyes to her, pretended to be in love; but she was perfectly easy +as to his not suffering any disappointment that need be cared for. +There had been no real affection either in his language or manners. +Sighs and fine words had been given in abundance; but she could +hardly devise any set of expressions, or fancy any tone of voice, +less allied with real love. She need not trouble herself to pity him. +He only wanted to aggrandise and enrich himself; and if Miss Woodhouse +of Hartfield, the heiress of thirty thousand pounds, were not quite +so easily obtained as he had fancied, he would soon try for Miss +Somebody else with twenty, or with ten. + +But--that he should talk of encouragement, should consider her as +aware of his views, accepting his attentions, meaning (in short), +to marry him!--should suppose himself her equal in connexion +or mind!--look down upon her friend, so well understanding the +gradations of rank below him, and be so blind to what rose above, +as to fancy himself shewing no presumption in addressing her!-- +It was most provoking. + +Perhaps it was not fair to expect him to feel how very much he +was her inferior in talent, and all the elegancies of mind. +The very want of such equality might prevent his perception of it; +but he must know that in fortune and consequence she was greatly +his superior. He must know that the Woodhouses had been settled +for several generations at Hartfield, the younger branch +of a very ancient family--and that the Eltons were nobody. +The landed property of Hartfield certainly was inconsiderable, +being but a sort of notch in the Donwell Abbey estate, to which all +the rest of Highbury belonged; but their fortune, from other sources, +was such as to make them scarcely secondary to Donwell Abbey itself, +in every other kind of consequence; and the Woodhouses had long +held a high place in the consideration of the neighbourhood which +Mr. Elton had first entered not two years ago, to make his way +as he could, without any alliances but in trade, or any thing +to recommend him to notice but his situation and his civility.-- +But he had fancied her in love with him; that evidently must +have been his dependence; and after raving a little about the +seeming incongruity of gentle manners and a conceited head, +Emma was obliged in common honesty to stop and admit that her own +behaviour to him had been so complaisant and obliging, so full of +courtesy and attention, as (supposing her real motive unperceived) +might warrant a man of ordinary observation and delicacy, +like Mr. Elton, in fancying himself a very decided favourite. If _she_ +had so misinterpreted his feelings, she had little right to wonder +that _he_, with self-interest to blind him, should have mistaken hers. + +The first error and the worst lay at her door. It was foolish, +it was wrong, to take so active a part in bringing any two +people together. It was adventuring too far, assuming too much, +making light of what ought to be serious, a trick of what ought +to be simple. She was quite concerned and ashamed, and resolved +to do such things no more. + +"Here have I," said she, "actually talked poor Harriet into being +very much attached to this man. She might never have thought of him +but for me; and certainly never would have thought of him with hope, +if I had not assured her of his attachment, for she is as modest +and humble as I used to think him. Oh! that I had been satisfied with +persuading her not to accept young Martin. There I was quite right. +That was well done of me; but there I should have stopped, and left +the rest to time and chance. I was introducing her into good company, +and giving her the opportunity of pleasing some one worth having; +I ought not to have attempted more. But now, poor girl, her peace +is cut up for some time. I have been but half a friend to her; +and if she were _not_ to feel this disappointment so very much, I am +sure I have not an idea of any body else who would be at all desirable +for her;--William Coxe--Oh! no, I could not endure William Coxe-- +a pert young lawyer." + +She stopt to blush and laugh at her own relapse, and then resumed +a more serious, more dispiriting cogitation upon what had been, +and might be, and must be. The distressing explanation she had +to make to Harriet, and all that poor Harriet would be suffering, +with the awkwardness of future meetings, the difficulties of +continuing or discontinuing the acquaintance, of subduing feelings, +concealing resentment, and avoiding eclat, were enough to occupy +her in most unmirthful reflections some time longer, and she went +to bed at last with nothing settled but the conviction of her having +blundered most dreadfully. + +To youth and natural cheerfulness like Emma's, though under +temporary gloom at night, the return of day will hardly fail +to bring return of spirits. The youth and cheerfulness of morning +are in happy analogy, and of powerful operation; and if the +distress be not poignant enough to keep the eyes unclosed, they +will be sure to open to sensations of softened pain and brighter hope. + +Emma got up on the morrow more disposed for comfort than she had +gone to bed, more ready to see alleviations of the evil before her, +and to depend on getting tolerably out of it. + +It was a great consolation that Mr. Elton should not be really +in love with her, or so particularly amiable as to make it shocking +to disappoint him--that Harriet's nature should not be of that +superior sort in which the feelings are most acute and retentive-- +and that there could be no necessity for any body's knowing +what had passed except the three principals, and especially +for her father's being given a moment's uneasiness about it. + +These were very cheering thoughts; and the sight of a great deal +of snow on the ground did her further service, for any thing was +welcome that might justify their all three being quite asunder +at present. + +The weather was most favourable for her; though Christmas Day, +she could not go to church. Mr. Woodhouse would have been miserable +had his daughter attempted it, and she was therefore safe from +either exciting or receiving unpleasant and most unsuitable ideas. +The ground covered with snow, and the atmosphere in that unsettled +state between frost and thaw, which is of all others the most +unfriendly for exercise, every morning beginning in rain or snow, +and every evening setting in to freeze, she was for many days a most +honourable prisoner. No intercourse with Harriet possible but by note; +no church for her on Sunday any more than on Christmas Day; and no +need to find excuses for Mr. Elton's absenting himself. + +It was weather which might fairly confine every body at home; +and though she hoped and believed him to be really taking comfort +in some society or other, it was very pleasant to have her father +so well satisfied with his being all alone in his own house, +too wise to stir out; and to hear him say to Mr. Knightley, whom no +weather could keep entirely from them,-- + +"Ah! Mr. Knightley, why do not you stay at home like poor Mr. Elton?" + +These days of confinement would have been, but for her private +perplexities, remarkably comfortable, as such seclusion exactly +suited her brother, whose feelings must always be of great importance +to his companions; and he had, besides, so thoroughly cleared off +his ill-humour at Randalls, that his amiableness never failed him +during the rest of his stay at Hartfield. He was always agreeable +and obliging, and speaking pleasantly of every body. But with all +the hopes of cheerfulness, and all the present comfort of delay, +there was still such an evil hanging over her in the hour of explanation +with Harriet, as made it impossible for Emma to be ever perfectly at ease. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +Mr. and Mrs. John Knightley were not detained long at Hartfield. +The weather soon improved enough for those to move who must move; +and Mr. Woodhouse having, as usual, tried to persuade his daughter +to stay behind with all her children, was obliged to see the whole +party set off, and return to his lamentations over the destiny +of poor Isabella;--which poor Isabella, passing her life with +those she doated on, full of their merits, blind to their faults, +and always innocently busy, might have been a model of right +feminine happiness. + +The evening of the very day on which they went brought a note +from Mr. Elton to Mr. Woodhouse, a long, civil, ceremonious note, +to say, with Mr. Elton's best compliments, "that he was proposing +to leave Highbury the following morning in his way to Bath; +where, in compliance with the pressing entreaties of some friends, +he had engaged to spend a few weeks, and very much regretted +the impossibility he was under, from various circumstances of +weather and business, of taking a personal leave of Mr. Woodhouse, +of whose friendly civilities he should ever retain a grateful sense-- +and had Mr. Woodhouse any commands, should be happy to attend to them." + +Emma was most agreeably surprized.--Mr. Elton's absence just +at this time was the very thing to be desired. She admired +him for contriving it, though not able to give him much credit +for the manner in which it was announced. Resentment could not +have been more plainly spoken than in a civility to her father, +from which she was so pointedly excluded. She had not even a +share in his opening compliments.--Her name was not mentioned;-- +and there was so striking a change in all this, and such an +ill-judged solemnity of leave-taking in his graceful acknowledgments, +as she thought, at first, could not escape her father's suspicion. + +It did, however.--Her father was quite taken up with the surprize +of so sudden a journey, and his fears that Mr. Elton might never get +safely to the end of it, and saw nothing extraordinary in his language. +It was a very useful note, for it supplied them with fresh matter +for thought and conversation during the rest of their lonely evening. +Mr. Woodhouse talked over his alarms, and Emma was in spirits +to persuade them away with all her usual promptitude. + +She now resolved to keep Harriet no longer in the dark. She had +reason to believe her nearly recovered from her cold, and it was +desirable that she should have as much time as possible for getting +the better of her other complaint before the gentleman's return. +She went to Mrs. Goddard's accordingly the very next day, to undergo +the necessary penance of communication; and a severe one it was.-- +She had to destroy all the hopes which she had been so industriously +feeding--to appear in the ungracious character of the one preferred-- +and acknowledge herself grossly mistaken and mis-judging in all her +ideas on one subject, all her observations, all her convictions, +all her prophecies for the last six weeks. + +The confession completely renewed her first shame--and the sight +of Harriet's tears made her think that she should never be in charity +with herself again. + +Harriet bore the intelligence very well--blaming nobody-- +and in every thing testifying such an ingenuousness of disposition +and lowly opinion of herself, as must appear with particular +advantage at that moment to her friend. + +Emma was in the humour to value simplicity and modesty to the utmost; +and all that was amiable, all that ought to be attaching, +seemed on Harriet's side, not her own. Harriet did not consider +herself as having any thing to complain of. The affection of such +a man as Mr. Elton would have been too great a distinction.-- +She never could have deserved him--and nobody but so partial +and kind a friend as Miss Woodhouse would have thought it possible. + +Her tears fell abundantly--but her grief was so truly artless, +that no dignity could have made it more respectable in Emma's eyes-- +and she listened to her and tried to console her with all her heart +and understanding--really for the time convinced that Harriet was +the superior creature of the two--and that to resemble her would +be more for her own welfare and happiness than all that genius or +intelligence could do. + +It was rather too late in the day to set about being simple-minded +and ignorant; but she left her with every previous resolution +confirmed of being humble and discreet, and repressing imagination +all the rest of her life. Her second duty now, inferior only to her +father's claims, was to promote Harriet's comfort, and endeavour +to prove her own affection in some better method than by match-making. +She got her to Hartfield, and shewed her the most unvarying kindness, +striving to occupy and amuse her, and by books and conversation, +to drive Mr. Elton from her thoughts. + +Time, she knew, must be allowed for this being thoroughly done; and she +could suppose herself but an indifferent judge of such matters in general, +and very inadequate to sympathise in an attachment to Mr. Elton +in particular; but it seemed to her reasonable that at Harriet's age, +and with the entire extinction of all hope, such a progress might be +made towards a state of composure by the time of Mr. Elton's return, +as to allow them all to meet again in the common routine of acquaintance, +without any danger of betraying sentiments or increasing them. + +Harriet did think him all perfection, and maintained the non-existence +of any body equal to him in person or goodness--and did, in truth, +prove herself more resolutely in love than Emma had foreseen; +but yet it appeared to her so natural, so inevitable to strive +against an inclination of that sort _unrequited_, that she could not +comprehend its continuing very long in equal force. + +If Mr. Elton, on his return, made his own indifference as evident +and indubitable as she could not doubt he would anxiously do, +she could not imagine Harriet's persisting to place her happiness +in the sight or the recollection of him. + +Their being fixed, so absolutely fixed, in the same place, was bad +for each, for all three. Not one of them had the power of removal, +or of effecting any material change of society. They must encounter +each other, and make the best of it. + +Harriet was farther unfortunate in the tone of her companions at +Mrs. Goddard's; Mr. Elton being the adoration of all the teachers +and great girls in the school; and it must be at Hartfield only +that she could have any chance of hearing him spoken of with cooling +moderation or repellent truth. Where the wound had been given, +there must the cure be found if anywhere; and Emma felt that, +till she saw her in the way of cure, there could be no true peace +for herself. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +Mr. Frank Churchill did not come. When the time proposed +drew near, Mrs. Weston's fears were justified in the arrival +of a letter of excuse. For the present, he could not be spared, +to his "very great mortification and regret; but still he looked +forward with the hope of coming to Randalls at no distant period." + +Mrs. Weston was exceedingly disappointed--much more disappointed, +in fact, than her husband, though her dependence on seeing the +young man had been so much more sober: but a sanguine temper, +though for ever expecting more good than occurs, does not +always pay for its hopes by any proportionate depression. +It soon flies over the present failure, and begins to hope again. +For half an hour Mr. Weston was surprized and sorry; but then he +began to perceive that Frank's coming two or three months later +would be a much better plan; better time of year; better weather; +and that he would be able, without any doubt, to stay considerably +longer with them than if he had come sooner. + +These feelings rapidly restored his comfort, while Mrs. Weston, +of a more apprehensive disposition, foresaw nothing but a repetition +of excuses and delays; and after all her concern for what her husband +was to suffer, suffered a great deal more herself. + +Emma was not at this time in a state of spirits to care really +about Mr. Frank Churchill's not coming, except as a disappointment +at Randalls. The acquaintance at present had no charm for her. +She wanted, rather, to be quiet, and out of temptation; but still, as it +was desirable that she should appear, in general, like her usual self, +she took care to express as much interest in the circumstance, +and enter as warmly into Mr. and Mrs. Weston's disappointment, +as might naturally belong to their friendship. + +She was the first to announce it to Mr. Knightley; and exclaimed +quite as much as was necessary, (or, being acting a part, perhaps +rather more,) at the conduct of the Churchills, in keeping him away. +She then proceeded to say a good deal more than she felt, of the +advantage of such an addition to their confined society in Surry; +the pleasure of looking at somebody new; the gala-day to Highbury entire, +which the sight of him would have made; and ending with reflections +on the Churchills again, found herself directly involved in a +disagreement with Mr. Knightley; and, to her great amusement, +perceived that she was taking the other side of the question from her +real opinion, and making use of Mrs. Weston's arguments against herself. + +"The Churchills are very likely in fault," said Mr. Knightley, +coolly; "but I dare say he might come if he would." + +"I do not know why you should say so. He wishes exceedingly to come; +but his uncle and aunt will not spare him." + +"I cannot believe that he has not the power of coming, if he made +a point of it. It is too unlikely, for me to believe it without proof." + +"How odd you are! What has Mr. Frank Churchill done, to make you +suppose him such an unnatural creature?" + +"I am not supposing him at all an unnatural creature, in suspecting +that he may have learnt to be above his connexions, and to care +very little for any thing but his own pleasure, from living with +those who have always set him the example of it. It is a great deal +more natural than one could wish, that a young man, brought up +by those who are proud, luxurious, and selfish, should be proud, +luxurious, and selfish too. If Frank Churchill had wanted to see +his father, he would have contrived it between September and January. +A man at his age--what is he?--three or four-and-twenty--cannot be +without the means of doing as much as that. It is impossible." + +"That's easily said, and easily felt by you, who have always +been your own master. You are the worst judge in the world, +Mr. Knightley, of the difficulties of dependence. You do not know +what it is to have tempers to manage." + +"It is not to be conceived that a man of three or four-and-twenty +should not have liberty of mind or limb to that amount. He cannot +want money--he cannot want leisure. We know, on the contrary, +that he has so much of both, that he is glad to get rid of them at +the idlest haunts in the kingdom. We hear of him for ever at some +watering-place or other. A little while ago, he was at Weymouth. +This proves that he can leave the Churchills." + +"Yes, sometimes he can." + +"And those times are whenever he thinks it worth his while; +whenever there is any temptation of pleasure." + +"It is very unfair to judge of any body's conduct, without an +intimate knowledge of their situation. Nobody, who has not been +in the interior of a family, can say what the difficulties +of any individual of that family may be. We ought to be +acquainted with Enscombe, and with Mrs. Churchill's temper, +before we pretend to decide upon what her nephew can do. +He may, at times, be able to do a great deal more than he can at others." + +"There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always do, if he chuses, +and that is, his duty; not by manoeuvring and finessing, but by vigour +and resolution. It is Frank Churchill's duty to pay this attention +to his father. He knows it to be so, by his promises and messages; +but if he wished to do it, it might be done. A man who felt rightly +would say at once, simply and resolutely, to Mrs. Churchill-- +`Every sacrifice of mere pleasure you will always find me ready to make +to your convenience; but I must go and see my father immediately. +I know he would be hurt by my failing in such a mark of respect to him +on the present occasion. I shall, therefore, set off to-morrow.'-- +If he would say so to her at once, in the tone of decision becoming +a man, there would be no opposition made to his going." + +"No," said Emma, laughing; "but perhaps there might be some made to his +coming back again. Such language for a young man entirely dependent, +to use!--Nobody but you, Mr. Knightley, would imagine it possible. +But you have not an idea of what is requisite in situations directly +opposite to your own. Mr. Frank Churchill to be making such +a speech as that to the uncle and aunt, who have brought him up, +and are to provide for him!--Standing up in the middle of the room, +I suppose, and speaking as loud as he could!--How can you imagine +such conduct practicable?" + +"Depend upon it, Emma, a sensible man would find no difficulty in it. +He would feel himself in the right; and the declaration--made, +of course, as a man of sense would make it, in a proper manner-- +would do him more good, raise him higher, fix his interest stronger +with the people he depended on, than all that a line of shifts +and expedients can ever do. Respect would be added to affection. +They would feel that they could trust him; that the nephew who had +done rightly by his father, would do rightly by them; for they know, +as well as he does, as well as all the world must know, that he +ought to pay this visit to his father; and while meanly exerting +their power to delay it, are in their hearts not thinking the better +of him for submitting to their whims. Respect for right conduct +is felt by every body. If he would act in this sort of manner, +on principle, consistently, regularly, their little minds would bend +to his." + +"I rather doubt that. You are very fond of bending little minds; +but where little minds belong to rich people in authority, +I think they have a knack of swelling out, till they are quite as +unmanageable as great ones. I can imagine, that if you, as you are, +Mr. Knightley, were to be transported and placed all at once in +Mr. Frank Churchill's situation, you would be able to say and do +just what you have been recommending for him; and it might have +a very good effect. The Churchills might not have a word to say +in return; but then, you would have no habits of early obedience +and long observance to break through. To him who has, it might +not be so easy to burst forth at once into perfect independence, +and set all their claims on his gratitude and regard at nought. +He may have as strong a sense of what would be right, as you can have, +without being so equal, under particular circumstances, to act up +to it." + +"Then it would not be so strong a sense. If it failed to produce +equal exertion, it could not be an equal conviction." + +"Oh, the difference of situation and habit! I wish you would try +to understand what an amiable young man may be likely to feel +in directly opposing those, whom as child and boy he has been +looking up to all his life." + +"Our amiable young man is a very weak young man, if this be the first +occasion of his carrying through a resolution to do right against +the will of others. It ought to have been a habit with him by +this time, of following his duty, instead of consulting expediency. +I can allow for the fears of the child, but not of the man. +As he became rational, he ought to have roused himself and shaken off +all that was unworthy in their authority. He ought to have opposed +the first attempt on their side to make him slight his father. +Had he begun as he ought, there would have been no difficulty now." + +"We shall never agree about him," cried Emma; "but that is +nothing extraordinary. I have not the least idea of his being +a weak young man: I feel sure that he is not. Mr. Weston would +not be blind to folly, though in his own son; but he is very likely +to have a more yielding, complying, mild disposition than would suit +your notions of man's perfection. I dare say he has; and though +it may cut him off from some advantages, it will secure him many others." + +"Yes; all the advantages of sitting still when he ought to move, +and of leading a life of mere idle pleasure, and fancying himself +extremely expert in finding excuses for it. He can sit down and +write a fine flourishing letter, full of professions and falsehoods, +and persuade himself that he has hit upon the very best method +in the world of preserving peace at home and preventing his father's +having any right to complain. His letters disgust me." + +"Your feelings are singular. They seem to satisfy every body else." + +"I suspect they do not satisfy Mrs. Weston. They hardly can +satisfy a woman of her good sense and quick feelings: standing in +a mother's place, but without a mother's affection to blind her. +It is on her account that attention to Randalls is doubly due, +and she must doubly feel the omission. Had she been a person +of consequence herself, he would have come I dare say; and it would +not have signified whether he did or no. Can you think your friend +behindhand in these sort of considerations? Do you suppose she +does not often say all this to herself? No, Emma, your amiable +young man can be amiable only in French, not in English. He may be +very `aimable,' have very good manners, and be very agreeable; but he +can have no English delicacy towards the feelings of other people: +nothing really amiable about him." + +"You seem determined to think ill of him." + +"Me!--not at all," replied Mr. Knightley, rather displeased; "I do +not want to think ill of him. I should be as ready to acknowledge +his merits as any other man; but I hear of none, except what are +merely personal; that he is well-grown and good-looking, with smooth, +plausible manners." + +"Well, if he have nothing else to recommend him, he will be a +treasure at Highbury. We do not often look upon fine young men, +well-bred and agreeable. We must not be nice and ask for all +the virtues into the bargain. Cannot you imagine, Mr. Knightley, +what a _sensation_ his coming will produce? There will be but one subject +throughout the parishes of Donwell and Highbury; but one interest-- +one object of curiosity; it will be all Mr. Frank Churchill; +we shall think and speak of nobody else." + +"You will excuse my being so much over-powered. If I find him +conversable, I shall be glad of his acquaintance; but if he is only +a chattering coxcomb, he will not occupy much of my time or thoughts." + +"My idea of him is, that he can adapt his conversation to the taste +of every body, and has the power as well as the wish of being +universally agreeable. To you, he will talk of farming; to me, +of drawing or music; and so on to every body, having that general +information on all subjects which will enable him to follow the lead, +or take the lead, just as propriety may require, and to speak +extremely well on each; that is my idea of him." + +"And mine," said Mr. Knightley warmly, "is, that if he turn out any +thing like it, he will be the most insufferable fellow breathing! +What! at three-and-twenty to be the king of his company--the great man-- +the practised politician, who is to read every body's character, +and make every body's talents conduce to the display of his +own superiority; to be dispensing his flatteries around, that he +may make all appear like fools compared with himself! My dear Emma, +your own good sense could not endure such a puppy when it came +to the point." + +"I will say no more about him," cried Emma, "you turn every +thing to evil. We are both prejudiced; you against, I for him; +and we have no chance of agreeing till he is really here." + +"Prejudiced! I am not prejudiced." + +"But I am very much, and without being at all ashamed of it. +My love for Mr. and Mrs. Weston gives me a decided prejudice in +his favour." + +"He is a person I never think of from one month's end to another," +said Mr. Knightley, with a degree of vexation, which made Emma +immediately talk of something else, though she could not comprehend +why he should be angry. + +To take a dislike to a young man, only because he appeared to be +of a different disposition from himself, was unworthy the real +liberality of mind which she was always used to acknowledge in him; +for with all the high opinion of himself, which she had often laid +to his charge, she had never before for a moment supposed it could +make him unjust to the merit of another. + + + + +VOLUME II + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Emma and Harriet had been walking together one morning, and, +in Emma's opinion, had been talking enough of Mr. Elton for that day. +She could not think that Harriet's solace or her own sins required more; +and she was therefore industriously getting rid of the subject +as they returned;--but it burst out again when she thought she +had succeeded, and after speaking some time of what the poor must +suffer in winter, and receiving no other answer than a very plaintive-- +"Mr. Elton is so good to the poor!" she found something else must be done. + +They were just approaching the house where lived Mrs. and Miss Bates. +She determined to call upon them and seek safety in numbers. +There was always sufficient reason for such an attention; Mrs. and +Miss Bates loved to be called on, and she knew she was considered +by the very few who presumed ever to see imperfection in her, +as rather negligent in that respect, and as not contributing what she +ought to the stock of their scanty comforts. + +She had had many a hint from Mr. Knightley and some from her own heart, +as to her deficiency--but none were equal to counteract the persuasion +of its being very disagreeable,--a waste of time--tiresome women-- +and all the horror of being in danger of falling in with the second-rate +and third-rate of Highbury, who were calling on them for ever, +and therefore she seldom went near them. But now she made the sudden +resolution of not passing their door without going in--observing, +as she proposed it to Harriet, that, as well as she could calculate, +they were just now quite safe from any letter from Jane Fairfax. + +The house belonged to people in business. Mrs. and Miss Bates occupied +the drawing-room floor; and there, in the very moderate-sized apartment, +which was every thing to them, the visitors were most cordially +and even gratefully welcomed; the quiet neat old lady, who with her +knitting was seated in the warmest corner, wanting even to give up +her place to Miss Woodhouse, and her more active, talking daughter, +almost ready to overpower them with care and kindness, thanks for +their visit, solicitude for their shoes, anxious inquiries after +Mr. Woodhouse's health, cheerful communications about her mother's, +and sweet-cake from the beaufet--"Mrs. Cole had just been there, +just called in for ten minutes, and had been so good as to sit an +hour with them, and _she_ had taken a piece of cake and been so kind +as to say she liked it very much; and, therefore, she hoped Miss +Woodhouse and Miss Smith would do them the favour to eat a piece too." + +The mention of the Coles was sure to be followed by that of Mr. Elton. +There was intimacy between them, and Mr. Cole had heard from +Mr. Elton since his going away. Emma knew what was coming; they must +have the letter over again, and settle how long he had been gone, +and how much he was engaged in company, and what a favourite he +was wherever he went, and how full the Master of the Ceremonies' +ball had been; and she went through it very well, with all the +interest and all the commendation that could be requisite, and always +putting forward to prevent Harriet's being obliged to say a word. + +This she had been prepared for when she entered the house; +but meant, having once talked him handsomely over, to be no farther +incommoded by any troublesome topic, and to wander at large amongst +all the Mistresses and Misses of Highbury, and their card-parties. +She had not been prepared to have Jane Fairfax succeed Mr. Elton; +but he was actually hurried off by Miss Bates, she jumped away +from him at last abruptly to the Coles, to usher in a letter from +her niece. + +"Oh! yes--Mr. Elton, I understand--certainly as to dancing-- +Mrs. Cole was telling me that dancing at the rooms at Bath was-- +Mrs. Cole was so kind as to sit some time with us, talking of Jane; +for as soon as she came in, she began inquiring after her, +Jane is so very great a favourite there. Whenever she is with us, +Mrs. Cole does not know how to shew her kindness enough; +and I must say that Jane deserves it as much as any body can. +And so she began inquiring after her directly, saying, `I know you +cannot have heard from Jane lately, because it is not her time +for writing;' and when I immediately said, `But indeed we have, +we had a letter this very morning,' I do not know that I ever saw +any body more surprized. `Have you, upon your honour?' said she; +`well, that is quite unexpected. Do let me hear what she says.'" + +Emma's politeness was at hand directly, to say, with smiling interest-- + +"Have you heard from Miss Fairfax so lately? I am extremely happy. +I hope she is well?" + +"Thank you. You are so kind!" replied the happily deceived aunt, +while eagerly hunting for the letter.--"Oh! here it is. I was sure +it could not be far off; but I had put my huswife upon it, you see, +without being aware, and so it was quite hid, but I had it in my hand +so very lately that I was almost sure it must be on the table. +I was reading it to Mrs. Cole, and since she went away, I was +reading it again to my mother, for it is such a pleasure to her-- +a letter from Jane--that she can never hear it often enough; +so I knew it could not be far off, and here it is, only just under +my huswife--and since you are so kind as to wish to hear what +she says;--but, first of all, I really must, in justice to Jane, +apologise for her writing so short a letter--only two pages you see-- +hardly two--and in general she fills the whole paper and crosses half. +My mother often wonders that I can make it out so well. +She often says, when the letter is first opened, `Well, Hetty, +now I think you will be put to it to make out all that checker-work'-- +don't you, ma'am?--And then I tell her, I am sure she would contrive +to make it out herself, if she had nobody to do it for her-- +every word of it--I am sure she would pore over it till she had +made out every word. And, indeed, though my mother's eyes are not +so good as they were, she can see amazingly well still, thank God! +with the help of spectacles. It is such a blessing! My mother's +are really very good indeed. Jane often says, when she is here, +`I am sure, grandmama, you must have had very strong eyes to see +as you do--and so much fine work as you have done too!--I only wish +my eyes may last me as well.'" + +All this spoken extremely fast obliged Miss Bates to stop for breath; +and Emma said something very civil about the excellence of Miss +Fairfax's handwriting. + +"You are extremely kind," replied Miss Bates, highly gratified; +"you who are such a judge, and write so beautifully yourself. +I am sure there is nobody's praise that could give us so much pleasure +as Miss Woodhouse's. My mother does not hear; she is a little deaf +you know. Ma'am," addressing her, "do you hear what Miss Woodhouse +is so obliging to say about Jane's handwriting?" + +And Emma had the advantage of hearing her own silly compliment +repeated twice over before the good old lady could comprehend it. +She was pondering, in the meanwhile, upon the possibility, without seeming +very rude, of making her escape from Jane Fairfax's letter, and had +almost resolved on hurrying away directly under some slight excuse, +when Miss Bates turned to her again and seized her attention. + +"My mother's deafness is very trifling you see--just nothing at all. +By only raising my voice, and saying any thing two or three times over, +she is sure to hear; but then she is used to my voice. But it is very +remarkable that she should always hear Jane better than she does me. +Jane speaks so distinct! However, she will not find her grandmama +at all deafer than she was two years ago; which is saying a great +deal at my mother's time of life--and it really is full two years, +you know, since she was here. We never were so long without seeing +her before, and as I was telling Mrs. Cole, we shall hardly know +how to make enough of her now." + +"Are you expecting Miss Fairfax here soon?" + +"Oh yes; next week." + +"Indeed!--that must be a very great pleasure." + +"Thank you. You are very kind. Yes, next week. Every body is +so surprized; and every body says the same obliging things. I am +sure she will be as happy to see her friends at Highbury, as they +can be to see her. Yes, Friday or Saturday; she cannot say which, +because Colonel Campbell will be wanting the carriage himself one +of those days. So very good of them to send her the whole way! +But they always do, you know. Oh yes, Friday or Saturday next. +That is what she writes about. That is the reason of her writing out +of rule, as we call it; for, in the common course, we should not have +heard from her before next Tuesday or Wednesday." + +"Yes, so I imagined. I was afraid there could be little chance +of my hearing any thing of Miss Fairfax to-day." + +"So obliging of you! No, we should not have heard, if it had not +been for this particular circumstance, of her being to come here +so soon. My mother is so delighted!--for she is to be three months +with us at least. Three months, she says so, positively, as I +am going to have the pleasure of reading to you. The case is, +you see, that the Campbells are going to Ireland. Mrs. Dixon has +persuaded her father and mother to come over and see her directly. +They had not intended to go over till the summer, but she is so +impatient to see them again--for till she married, last October, +she was never away from them so much as a week, which must make +it very strange to be in different kingdoms, I was going to say, +but however different countries, and so she wrote a very urgent letter +to her mother--or her father, I declare I do not know which it was, +but we shall see presently in Jane's letter--wrote in Mr. Dixon's +name as well as her own, to press their coming over directly, +and they would give them the meeting in Dublin, and take them back +to their country seat, Baly-craig, a beautiful place, I fancy. +Jane has heard a great deal of its beauty; from Mr. Dixon, I mean-- +I do not know that she ever heard about it from any body else; +but it was very natural, you know, that he should like to speak +of his own place while he was paying his addresses--and as Jane used +to be very often walking out with them--for Colonel and Mrs. Campbell +were very particular about their daughter's not walking out +often with only Mr. Dixon, for which I do not at all blame them; +of course she heard every thing he might be telling Miss Campbell +about his own home in Ireland; and I think she wrote us word +that he had shewn them some drawings of the place, views that he +had taken himself. He is a most amiable, charming young man, +I believe. Jane was quite longing to go to Ireland, from his account +of things." + +At this moment, an ingenious and animating suspicion entering +Emma's brain with regard to Jane Fairfax, this charming Mr. Dixon, +and the not going to Ireland, she said, with the insidious design +of farther discovery, + +"You must feel it very fortunate that Miss Fairfax should be allowed +to come to you at such a time. Considering the very particular +friendship between her and Mrs. Dixon, you could hardly have expected +her to be excused from accompanying Colonel and Mrs. Campbell." + +"Very true, very true, indeed. The very thing that we have always +been rather afraid of; for we should not have liked to have her +at such a distance from us, for months together--not able to come +if any thing was to happen. But you see, every thing turns out +for the best. They want her (Mr. and Mrs. Dixon) excessively to +come over with Colonel and Mrs. Campbell; quite depend upon it; +nothing can be more kind or pressing than their _joint_ invitation, +Jane says, as you will hear presently; Mr. Dixon does not seem in the +least backward in any attention. He is a most charming young man. +Ever since the service he rendered Jane at Weymouth, when they were +out in that party on the water, and she, by the sudden whirling +round of something or other among the sails, would have been dashed +into the sea at once, and actually was all but gone, if he had not, +with the greatest presence of mind, caught hold of her habit-- +(I can never think of it without trembling!)--But ever since we +had the history of that day, I have been so fond of Mr. Dixon!" + +"But, in spite of all her friends' urgency, and her own wish +of seeing Ireland, Miss Fairfax prefers devoting the time to you +and Mrs. Bates?" + +"Yes--entirely her own doing, entirely her own choice; and Colonel +and Mrs. Campbell think she does quite right, just what they +should recommend; and indeed they particularly _wish_ her to try +her native air, as she has not been quite so well as usual lately." + +"I am concerned to hear of it. I think they judge wisely. +But Mrs. Dixon must be very much disappointed. Mrs. Dixon, +I understand, has no remarkable degree of personal beauty; is not, +by any means, to be compared with Miss Fairfax." + +"Oh! no. You are very obliging to say such things--but certainly not. +There is no comparison between them. Miss Campbell always was +absolutely plain--but extremely elegant and amiable." + +"Yes, that of course." + +"Jane caught a bad cold, poor thing! so long ago as the 7th +of November, (as I am going to read to you,) and has never been +well since. A long time, is not it, for a cold to hang upon her? +She never mentioned it before, because she would not alarm us. +Just like her! so considerate!--But however, she is so far from well, +that her kind friends the Campbells think she had better come home, +and try an air that always agrees with her; and they have no doubt +that three or four months at Highbury will entirely cure her-- +and it is certainly a great deal better that she should come here, +than go to Ireland, if she is unwell. Nobody could nurse her, as we +should do." + +"It appears to me the most desirable arrangement in the world." + +"And so she is to come to us next Friday or Saturday, and the +Campbells leave town in their way to Holyhead the Monday following-- +as you will find from Jane's letter. So sudden!--You may guess, +dear Miss Woodhouse, what a flurry it has thrown me in! +If it was not for the drawback of her illness--but I am afraid +we must expect to see her grown thin, and looking very poorly. +I must tell you what an unlucky thing happened to me, as to that. +I always make a point of reading Jane's letters through to myself first, +before I read them aloud to my mother, you know, for fear of there +being any thing in them to distress her. Jane desired me to do it, +so I always do: and so I began to-day with my usual caution; +but no sooner did I come to the mention of her being unwell, than I +burst out, quite frightened, with `Bless me! poor Jane is ill!'-- +which my mother, being on the watch, heard distinctly, and was sadly +alarmed at. However, when I read on, I found it was not near so bad +as I had fancied at first; and I make so light of it now to her, +that she does not think much about it. But I cannot imagine +how I could be so off my guard. If Jane does not get well soon, +we will call in Mr. Perry. The expense shall not be thought of; +and though he is so liberal, and so fond of Jane that I dare say +he would not mean to charge any thing for attendance, we could not +suffer it to be so, you know. He has a wife and family to maintain, +and is not to be giving away his time. Well, now I have just given you +a hint of what Jane writes about, we will turn to her letter, and I am +sure she tells her own story a great deal better than I can tell it +for her." + +"I am afraid we must be running away," said Emma, glancing at Harriet, +and beginning to rise--"My father will be expecting us. +I had no intention, I thought I had no power of staying more than +five minutes, when I first entered the house. I merely called, +because I would not pass the door without inquiring after Mrs. Bates; +but I have been so pleasantly detained! Now, however, we must wish +you and Mrs. Bates good morning." + +And not all that could be urged to detain her succeeded. +She regained the street--happy in this, that though much had been +forced on her against her will, though she had in fact heard +the whole substance of Jane Fairfax's letter, she had been able +to escape the letter itself. + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Jane Fairfax was an orphan, the only child of Mrs. Bates's +youngest daughter. + +The marriage of Lieut. Fairfax of the _______ regiment of infantry, +and Miss Jane Bates, had had its day of fame and pleasure, +hope and interest; but nothing now remained of it, save the melancholy +remembrance of him dying in action abroad--of his widow sinking +under consumption and grief soon afterwards--and this girl. + +By birth she belonged to Highbury: and when at three years old, +on losing her mother, she became the property, the charge, +the consolation, the fondling of her grandmother and aunt, there had +seemed every probability of her being permanently fixed there; +of her being taught only what very limited means could command, +and growing up with no advantages of connexion or improvement, +to be engrafted on what nature had given her in a pleasing person, +good understanding, and warm-hearted, well-meaning relations. + +But the compassionate feelings of a friend of her father gave +a change to her destiny. This was Colonel Campbell, who had +very highly regarded Fairfax, as an excellent officer and most +deserving young man; and farther, had been indebted to him for +such attentions, during a severe camp-fever, as he believed had saved +his life. These were claims which he did not learn to overlook, +though some years passed away from the death of poor Fairfax, +before his own return to England put any thing in his power. +When he did return, he sought out the child and took notice of her. +He was a married man, with only one living child, a girl, +about Jane's age: and Jane became their guest, paying them long visits +and growing a favourite with all; and before she was nine years old, +his daughter's great fondness for her, and his own wish of being +a real friend, united to produce an offer from Colonel Campbell +of undertaking the whole charge of her education. It was accepted; +and from that period Jane had belonged to Colonel Campbell's family, +and had lived with them entirely, only visiting her grandmother +from time to time. + +The plan was that she should be brought up for educating others; +the very few hundred pounds which she inherited from her father +making independence impossible. To provide for her otherwise +was out of Colonel Campbell's power; for though his income, by pay +and appointments, was handsome, his fortune was moderate and must +be all his daughter's; but, by giving her an education, he hoped +to be supplying the means of respectable subsistence hereafter. + +Such was Jane Fairfax's history. She had fallen into good hands, +known nothing but kindness from the Campbells, and been given +an excellent education. Living constantly with right-minded +and well-informed people, her heart and understanding had received +every advantage of discipline and culture; and Colonel Campbell's +residence being in London, every lighter talent had been done +full justice to, by the attendance of first-rate masters. +Her disposition and abilities were equally worthy of all that +friendship could do; and at eighteen or nineteen she was, as far +as such an early age can be qualified for the care of children, +fully competent to the office of instruction herself; but she +was too much beloved to be parted with. Neither father nor mother +could promote, and the daughter could not endure it. The evil day +was put off. It was easy to decide that she was still too young; +and Jane remained with them, sharing, as another daughter, in all +the rational pleasures of an elegant society, and a judicious +mixture of home and amusement, with only the drawback of the future, +the sobering suggestions of her own good understanding to remind +her that all this might soon be over. + +The affection of the whole family, the warm attachment of Miss +Campbell in particular, was the more honourable to each party +from the circumstance of Jane's decided superiority both in beauty +and acquirements. That nature had given it in feature could not +be unseen by the young woman, nor could her higher powers of mind +be unfelt by the parents. They continued together with unabated +regard however, till the marriage of Miss Campbell, who by that chance, +that luck which so often defies anticipation in matrimonial affairs, +giving attraction to what is moderate rather than to what is superior, +engaged the affections of Mr. Dixon, a young man, rich and agreeable, +almost as soon as they were acquainted; and was eligibly +and happily settled, while Jane Fairfax had yet her bread to earn. + +This event had very lately taken place; too lately for any thing to be +yet attempted by her less fortunate friend towards entering on her path +of duty; though she had now reached the age which her own judgment +had fixed on for beginning. She had long resolved that one-and-twenty +should be the period. With the fortitude of a devoted novitiate, +she had resolved at one-and-twenty to complete the sacrifice, +and retire from all the pleasures of life, of rational intercourse, +equal society, peace and hope, to penance and mortification for ever. + +The good sense of Colonel and Mrs. Campbell could not oppose such +a resolution, though their feelings did. As long as they lived, +no exertions would be necessary, their home might be hers for ever; +and for their own comfort they would have retained her wholly; +but this would be selfishness:--what must be at last, had better +be soon. Perhaps they began to feel it might have been kinder +and wiser to have resisted the temptation of any delay, and spared +her from a taste of such enjoyments of ease and leisure as must +now be relinquished. Still, however, affection was glad to catch +at any reasonable excuse for not hurrying on the wretched moment. +She had never been quite well since the time of their daughter's marriage; +and till she should have completely recovered her usual strength, +they must forbid her engaging in duties, which, so far from being +compatible with a weakened frame and varying spirits, seemed, +under the most favourable circumstances, to require something +more than human perfection of body and mind to be discharged with +tolerable comfort. + +With regard to her not accompanying them to Ireland, her account +to her aunt contained nothing but truth, though there might be some +truths not told. It was her own choice to give the time of their +absence to Highbury; to spend, perhaps, her last months of perfect +liberty with those kind relations to whom she was so very dear: +and the Campbells, whatever might be their motive or motives, +whether single, or double, or treble, gave the arrangement +their ready sanction, and said, that they depended more on a few +months spent in her native air, for the recovery of her health, +than on any thing else. Certain it was that she was to come; +and that Highbury, instead of welcoming that perfect novelty which +had been so long promised it--Mr. Frank Churchill--must put up for +the present with Jane Fairfax, who could bring only the freshness +of a two years' absence. + +Emma was sorry;--to have to pay civilities to a person she did +not like through three long months!--to be always doing more than +she wished, and less than she ought! Why she did not like Jane +Fairfax might be a difficult question to answer; Mr. Knightley +had once told her it was because she saw in her the really +accomplished young woman, which she wanted to be thought herself; +and though the accusation had been eagerly refuted at the time, +there were moments of self-examination in which her conscience could +not quite acquit her. But "she could never get acquainted with her: +she did not know how it was, but there was such coldness and reserve-- +such apparent indifference whether she pleased or not--and then, +her aunt was such an eternal talker!--and she was made such a fuss +with by every body!--and it had been always imagined that they were +to be so intimate--because their ages were the same, every body had +supposed they must be so fond of each other." These were her reasons-- +she had no better. + +It was a dislike so little just--every imputed fault was so magnified +by fancy, that she never saw Jane Fairfax the first time after any +considerable absence, without feeling that she had injured her; +and now, when the due visit was paid, on her arrival, after a two years' +interval, she was particularly struck with the very appearance +and manners, which for those two whole years she had been depreciating. +Jane Fairfax was very elegant, remarkably elegant; and she had +herself the highest value for elegance. Her height was pretty, +just such as almost every body would think tall, and nobody could +think very tall; her figure particularly graceful; her size a most +becoming medium, between fat and thin, though a slight appearance +of ill-health seemed to point out the likeliest evil of the two. +Emma could not but feel all this; and then, her face--her features-- +there was more beauty in them altogether than she had remembered; +it was not regular, but it was very pleasing beauty. Her eyes, +a deep grey, with dark eye-lashes and eyebrows, had never been denied +their praise; but the skin, which she had been used to cavil at, +as wanting colour, had a clearness and delicacy which really needed +no fuller bloom. It was a style of beauty, of which elegance +was the reigning character, and as such, she must, in honour, +by all her principles, admire it:--elegance, which, whether of person +or of mind, she saw so little in Highbury. There, not to be vulgar, +was distinction, and merit. + +In short, she sat, during the first visit, looking at Jane Fairfax +with twofold complacency; the sense of pleasure and the sense +of rendering justice, and was determining that she would dislike +her no longer. When she took in her history, indeed, her situation, +as well as her beauty; when she considered what all this elegance +was destined to, what she was going to sink from, how she was going +to live, it seemed impossible to feel any thing but compassion +and respect; especially, if to every well-known particular entitling +her to interest, were added the highly probable circumstance +of an attachment to Mr. Dixon, which she had so naturally started +to herself. In that case, nothing could be more pitiable +or more honourable than the sacrifices she had resolved on. +Emma was very willing now to acquit her of having seduced +Mr. Dixon's actions from his wife, or of any thing mischievous +which her imagination had suggested at first. If it were love, +it might be simple, single, successless love on her side alone. +She might have been unconsciously sucking in the sad poison, +while a sharer of his conversation with her friend; and from the best, +the purest of motives, might now be denying herself this visit +to Ireland, and resolving to divide herself effectually from +him and his connexions by soon beginning her career of laborious duty. + +Upon the whole, Emma left her with such softened, charitable feelings, +as made her look around in walking home, and lament that Highbury +afforded no young man worthy of giving her independence; +nobody that she could wish to scheme about for her. + +These were charming feelings--but not lasting. Before she had +committed herself by any public profession of eternal friendship for +Jane Fairfax, or done more towards a recantation of past prejudices +and errors, than saying to Mr. Knightley, "She certainly is handsome; +she is better than handsome!" Jane had spent an evening at Hartfield +with her grandmother and aunt, and every thing was relapsing much +into its usual state. Former provocations reappeared. The aunt +was as tiresome as ever; more tiresome, because anxiety for her +health was now added to admiration of her powers; and they had to +listen to the description of exactly how little bread and butter +she ate for breakfast, and how small a slice of mutton for dinner, +as well as to see exhibitions of new caps and new workbags for her +mother and herself; and Jane's offences rose again. They had music; +Emma was obliged to play; and the thanks and praise which necessarily +followed appeared to her an affectation of candour, an air +of greatness, meaning only to shew off in higher style her own very +superior performance. She was, besides, which was the worst of all, +so cold, so cautious! There was no getting at her real opinion. +Wrapt up in a cloak of politeness, she seemed determined +to hazard nothing. She was disgustingly, was suspiciously reserved. + +If any thing could be more, where all was most, she was more +reserved on the subject of Weymouth and the Dixons than any thing. +She seemed bent on giving no real insight into Mr. Dixon's character, +or her own value for his company, or opinion of the suitableness +of the match. It was all general approbation and smoothness; +nothing delineated or distinguished. It did her no service however. +Her caution was thrown away. Emma saw its artifice, and returned +to her first surmises. There probably _was_ something more to conceal +than her own preference; Mr. Dixon, perhaps, had been very near +changing one friend for the other, or been fixed only to Miss Campbell, +for the sake of the future twelve thousand pounds. + +The like reserve prevailed on other topics. She and Mr. Frank Churchill +had been at Weymouth at the same time. It was known that they were +a little acquainted; but not a syllable of real information could Emma +procure as to what he truly was. "Was he handsome?"--"She believed +he was reckoned a very fine young man." "Was he agreeable?"-- +"He was generally thought so." "Did he appear a sensible young man; +a young man of information?"--"At a watering-place, or in a common +London acquaintance, it was difficult to decide on such points. +Manners were all that could be safely judged of, under a much longer +knowledge than they had yet had of Mr. Churchill. She believed +every body found his manners pleasing." Emma could not forgive her. + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Emma could not forgive her;--but as neither provocation nor resentment +were discerned by Mr. Knightley, who had been of the party, and had +seen only proper attention and pleasing behaviour on each side, +he was expressing the next morning, being at Hartfield again on +business with Mr. Woodhouse, his approbation of the whole; not so +openly as he might have done had her father been out of the room, +but speaking plain enough to be very intelligible to Emma. +He had been used to think her unjust to Jane, and had now great +pleasure in marking an improvement. + +"A very pleasant evening," he began, as soon as Mr. Woodhouse +had been talked into what was necessary, told that he understood, +and the papers swept away;--"particularly pleasant. You and Miss +Fairfax gave us some very good music. I do not know a more +luxurious state, sir, than sitting at one's ease to be entertained +a whole evening by two such young women; sometimes with music +and sometimes with conversation. I am sure Miss Fairfax must +have found the evening pleasant, Emma. You left nothing undone. +I was glad you made her play so much, for having no instrument +at her grandmother's, it must have been a real indulgence." + +"I am happy you approved," said Emma, smiling; "but I hope I am +not often deficient in what is due to guests at Hartfield." + +"No, my dear," said her father instantly; "_that_ I am sure you +are not. There is nobody half so attentive and civil as you are. +If any thing, you are too attentive. The muffin last night--if it +had been handed round once, I think it would have been enough." + +"No," said Mr. Knightley, nearly at the same time; "you are not +often deficient; not often deficient either in manner or comprehension. +I think you understand me, therefore." + +An arch look expressed--"I understand you well enough;" but she +said only, "Miss Fairfax is reserved." + +"I always told you she was--a little; but you will soon overcome +all that part of her reserve which ought to be overcome, all that +has its foundation in diffidence. What arises from discretion +must be honoured." + +"You think her diffident. I do not see it." + +"My dear Emma," said he, moving from his chair into one close +by her, "you are not going to tell me, I hope, that you +had not a pleasant evening." + +"Oh! no; I was pleased with my own perseverance in asking questions; +and amused to think how little information I obtained." + +"I am disappointed," was his only answer. + +"I hope every body had a pleasant evening," said Mr. Woodhouse, +in his quiet way. "I had. Once, I felt the fire rather too much; +but then I moved back my chair a little, a very little, and it did +not disturb me. Miss Bates was very chatty and good-humoured, +as she always is, though she speaks rather too quick. However, +she is very agreeable, and Mrs. Bates too, in a different way. +I like old friends; and Miss Jane Fairfax is a very pretty sort of +young lady, a very pretty and a very well-behaved young lady indeed. +She must have found the evening agreeable, Mr. Knightley, because she +had Emma." + +"True, sir; and Emma, because she had Miss Fairfax." + +Emma saw his anxiety, and wishing to appease it, at least for +the present, said, and with a sincerity which no one could question-- + +"She is a sort of elegant creature that one cannot keep one's eyes from. +I am always watching her to admire; and I do pity her from my heart." + +Mr. Knightley looked as if he were more gratified than he cared +to express; and before he could make any reply, Mr. Woodhouse, +whose thoughts were on the Bates's, said-- + +"It is a great pity that their circumstances should be so confined! +a great pity indeed! and I have often wished--but it is so little one +can venture to do--small, trifling presents, of any thing uncommon-- +Now we have killed a porker, and Emma thinks of sending them +a loin or a leg; it is very small and delicate--Hartfield pork is +not like any other pork--but still it is pork--and, my dear Emma, +unless one could be sure of their making it into steaks, nicely fried, +as ours are fried, without the smallest grease, and not roast it, +for no stomach can bear roast pork--I think we had better send the leg-- +do not you think so, my dear?" + +"My dear papa, I sent the whole hind-quarter. I knew you would wish it. +There will be the leg to be salted, you know, which is so very nice, +and the loin to be dressed directly in any manner they like." + +"That's right, my dear, very right. I had not thought of it before, +but that is the best way. They must not over-salt the leg; and then, +if it is not over-salted, and if it is very thoroughly boiled, +just as Serle boils ours, and eaten very moderately of, with a +boiled turnip, and a little carrot or parsnip, I do not consider +it unwholesome." + +"Emma," said Mr. Knightley presently, "I have a piece of news for you. +You like news--and I heard an article in my way hither that I think +will interest you." + +"News! Oh! yes, I always like news. What is it?--why do you +smile so?--where did you hear it?--at Randalls?" + +He had time only to say, + +"No, not at Randalls; I have not been near Randalls," when the door +was thrown open, and Miss Bates and Miss Fairfax walked into the room. +Full of thanks, and full of news, Miss Bates knew not which to +give quickest. Mr. Knightley soon saw that he had lost his moment, +and that not another syllable of communication could rest with him. + +"Oh! my dear sir, how are you this morning? My dear Miss Woodhouse-- +I come quite over-powered. Such a beautiful hind-quarter of pork! +You are too bountiful! Have you heard the news? Mr. Elton is going +to be married." + +Emma had not had time even to think of Mr. Elton, and she was +so completely surprized that she could not avoid a little start, +and a little blush, at the sound. + +"There is my news:--I thought it would interest you," +said Mr. Knightley, with a smile which implied a conviction +of some part of what had passed between them. + +"But where could _you_ hear it?" cried Miss Bates. "Where could +you possibly hear it, Mr. Knightley? For it is not five minutes +since I received Mrs. Cole's note--no, it cannot be more than five-- +or at least ten--for I had got my bonnet and spencer on, just ready +to come out--I was only gone down to speak to Patty again about +the pork--Jane was standing in the passage--were not you, Jane?-- +for my mother was so afraid that we had not any salting-pan +large enough. So I said I would go down and see, and Jane said, +`Shall I go down instead? for I think you have a little cold, +and Patty has been washing the kitchen.'--`Oh! my dear,' +said I--well, and just then came the note. A Miss Hawkins-- +that's all I know. A Miss Hawkins of Bath. But, Mr. Knightley, +how could you possibly have heard it? for the very moment Mr. Cole +told Mrs. Cole of it, she sat down and wrote to me. A Miss Hawkins--" + +"I was with Mr. Cole on business an hour and a half ago. +He had just read Elton's letter as I was shewn in, and handed it +to me directly." + +"Well! that is quite--I suppose there never was a piece of news more +generally interesting. My dear sir, you really are too bountiful. +My mother desires her very best compliments and regards, and a +thousand thanks, and says you really quite oppress her." + +"We consider our Hartfield pork," replied Mr. Woodhouse--"indeed it +certainly is, so very superior to all other pork, that Emma and I +cannot have a greater pleasure than--" + +"Oh! my dear sir, as my mother says, our friends are only too good +to us. If ever there were people who, without having great wealth +themselves, had every thing they could wish for, I am sure it is us. +We may well say that `our lot is cast in a goodly heritage.' +Well, Mr. Knightley, and so you actually saw the letter; well--" + +"It was short--merely to announce--but cheerful, exulting, of course."-- +Here was a sly glance at Emma. "He had been so fortunate as to-- +I forget the precise words--one has no business to remember them. +The information was, as you state, that he was going to be married +to a Miss Hawkins. By his style, I should imagine it just settled." + +"Mr. Elton going to be married!" said Emma, as soon as she could speak. +"He will have every body's wishes for his happiness." + +"He is very young to settle," was Mr. Woodhouse's observation. +"He had better not be in a hurry. He seemed to me very well off +as he was. We were always glad to see him at Hartfield." + +"A new neighbour for us all, Miss Woodhouse!" said Miss Bates, +joyfully; "my mother is so pleased!--she says she cannot +bear to have the poor old Vicarage without a mistress. +This is great news, indeed. Jane, you have never seen +Mr. Elton!--no wonder that you have such a curiosity to see him." + +Jane's curiosity did not appear of that absorbing nature as wholly +to occupy her. + +"No--I have never seen Mr. Elton," she replied, starting on this appeal; +"is he--is he a tall man?" + +"Who shall answer that question?" cried Emma. "My father would +say `yes,' Mr. Knightley `no;' and Miss Bates and I that he is +just the happy medium. When you have been here a little longer, +Miss Fairfax, you will understand that Mr. Elton is the standard +of perfection in Highbury, both in person and mind." + +"Very true, Miss Woodhouse, so she will. He is the very best +young man--But, my dear Jane, if you remember, I told you yesterday +he was precisely the height of Mr. Perry. Miss Hawkins,--I dare say, +an excellent young woman. His extreme attention to my mother-- +wanting her to sit in the vicarage pew, that she might hear the better, +for my mother is a little deaf, you know--it is not much, but she +does not hear quite quick. Jane says that Colonel Campbell is a +little deaf. He fancied bathing might be good for it--the warm bath-- +but she says it did him no lasting benefit. Colonel Campbell, +you know, is quite our angel. And Mr. Dixon seems a very charming +young man, quite worthy of him. It is such a happiness when good +people get together--and they always do. Now, here will be Mr. Elton +and Miss Hawkins; and there are the Coles, such very good people; +and the Perrys--I suppose there never was a happier or a better couple +than Mr. and Mrs. Perry. I say, sir," turning to Mr. Woodhouse, +"I think there are few places with such society as Highbury. +I always say, we are quite blessed in our neighbours.--My dear sir, +if there is one thing my mother loves better than another, it is pork-- +a roast loin of pork--" + +"As to who, or what Miss Hawkins is, or how long he has been +acquainted with her," said Emma, "nothing I suppose can be known. +One feels that it cannot be a very long acquaintance. He has been +gone only four weeks." + +Nobody had any information to give; and, after a few more wonderings, +Emma said, + +"You are silent, Miss Fairfax--but I hope you mean to take +an interest in this news. You, who have been hearing and seeing +so much of late on these subjects, who must have been so deep +in the business on Miss Campbell's account--we shall not excuse +your being indifferent about Mr. Elton and Miss Hawkins." + +"When I have seen Mr. Elton," replied Jane, "I dare say I +shall be interested--but I believe it requires _that_ with me. +And as it is some months since Miss Campbell married, the impression +may be a little worn off." + +"Yes, he has been gone just four weeks, as you observe, Miss Woodhouse," +said Miss Bates, "four weeks yesterday.--A Miss Hawkins!--Well, I had +always rather fancied it would be some young lady hereabouts; +not that I ever--Mrs. Cole once whispered to me--but I immediately said, +`No, Mr. Elton is a most worthy young man--but'--In short, I do +not think I am particularly quick at those sort of discoveries. +I do not pretend to it. What is before me, I see. At the same time, +nobody could wonder if Mr. Elton should have aspired--Miss Woodhouse +lets me chatter on, so good-humouredly. She knows I would not +offend for the world. How does Miss Smith do? She seems quite +recovered now. Have you heard from Mrs. John Knightley lately? +Oh! those dear little children. Jane, do you know I always fancy +Mr. Dixon like Mr. John Knightley. I mean in person--tall, and with +that sort of look--and not very talkative." + +"Quite wrong, my dear aunt; there is no likeness at all." + +"Very odd! but one never does form a just idea of any body beforehand. +One takes up a notion, and runs away with it. Mr. Dixon, you say, +is not, strictly speaking, handsome?" + +"Handsome! Oh! no--far from it--certainly plain. I told you he +was plain." + +"My dear, you said that Miss Campbell would not allow him to be plain, +and that you yourself--" + +"Oh! as for me, my judgment is worth nothing. Where I have a regard, +I always think a person well-looking. But I gave what I believed +the general opinion, when I called him plain." + +"Well, my dear Jane, I believe we must be running away. +The weather does not look well, and grandmama will be uneasy. +You are too obliging, my dear Miss Woodhouse; but we really must +take leave. This has been a most agreeable piece of news indeed. +I shall just go round by Mrs. Cole's; but I shall not stop three minutes: +and, Jane, you had better go home directly--I would not have you +out in a shower!--We think she is the better for Highbury already. +Thank you, we do indeed. I shall not attempt calling on Mrs. Goddard, +for I really do not think she cares for any thing but _boiled_ pork: +when we dress the leg it will be another thing. Good morning to you, +my dear sir. Oh! Mr. Knightley is coming too. Well, that is +so very!--I am sure if Jane is tired, you will be so kind as to +give her your arm.--Mr. Elton, and Miss Hawkins!--Good morning +to you." + +Emma, alone with her father, had half her attention wanted by him +while he lamented that young people would be in such a hurry to marry-- +and to marry strangers too--and the other half she could give +to her own view of the subject. It was to herself an amusing +and a very welcome piece of news, as proving that Mr. Elton +could not have suffered long; but she was sorry for Harriet: +Harriet must feel it--and all that she could hope was, by giving +the first information herself, to save her from hearing it abruptly +from others. It was now about the time that she was likely to call. +If she were to meet Miss Bates in her way!--and upon its beginning +to rain, Emma was obliged to expect that the weather would be +detaining her at Mrs. Goddard's, and that the intelligence would +undoubtedly rush upon her without preparation. + +The shower was heavy, but short; and it had not been over five minutes, +when in came Harriet, with just the heated, agitated look which +hurrying thither with a full heart was likely to give; and the +"Oh! Miss Woodhouse, what do you think has happened!" which instantly +burst forth, had all the evidence of corresponding perturbation. +As the blow was given, Emma felt that she could not now shew greater +kindness than in listening; and Harriet, unchecked, ran eagerly +through what she had to tell. "She had set out from Mrs. Goddard's +half an hour ago--she had been afraid it would rain--she had been +afraid it would pour down every moment--but she thought she might +get to Hartfield first--she had hurried on as fast as possible; +but then, as she was passing by the house where a young woman +was making up a gown for her, she thought she would just step +in and see how it went on; and though she did not seem to stay +half a moment there, soon after she came out it began to rain, +and she did not know what to do; so she ran on directly, as fast +as she could, and took shelter at Ford's."--Ford's was the principal +woollen-draper, linen-draper, and haberdasher's shop united; +the shop first in size and fashion in the place.--"And so, +there she had set, without an idea of any thing in the world, +full ten minutes, perhaps--when, all of a sudden, who should come in-- +to be sure it was so very odd!--but they always dealt at Ford's-- +who should come in, but Elizabeth Martin and her brother!-- +Dear Miss Woodhouse! only think. I thought I should have fainted. +I did not know what to do. I was sitting near the door--Elizabeth saw +me directly; but he did not; he was busy with the umbrella. +I am sure she saw me, but she looked away directly, and took +no notice; and they both went to quite the farther end of the shop; +and I kept sitting near the door!--Oh! dear; I was so miserable! +I am sure I must have been as white as my gown. I could not go away +you know, because of the rain; but I did so wish myself anywhere +in the world but there.--Oh! dear, Miss Woodhouse--well, at last, +I fancy, he looked round and saw me; for instead of going +on with her buyings, they began whispering to one another. +I am sure they were talking of me; and I could not help thinking +that he was persuading her to speak to me--(do you think he was, +Miss Woodhouse?)--for presently she came forward--came quite up +to me, and asked me how I did, and seemed ready to shake hands, +if I would. She did not do any of it in the same way that she used; +I could see she was altered; but, however, she seemed to _try_ to be +very friendly, and we shook hands, and stood talking some time; +but I know no more what I said--I was in such a tremble!--I remember +she said she was sorry we never met now; which I thought almost +too kind! Dear, Miss Woodhouse, I was absolutely miserable! +By that time, it was beginning to hold up, and I was determined +that nothing should stop me from getting away--and then--only think!-- +I found he was coming up towards me too--slowly you know, and as +if he did not quite know what to do; and so he came and spoke, +and I answered--and I stood for a minute, feeling dreadfully, +you know, one can't tell how; and then I took courage, and said it +did not rain, and I must go; and so off I set; and I had not got +three yards from the door, when he came after me, only to say, +if I was going to Hartfield, he thought I had much better go round +by Mr. Cole's stables, for I should find the near way quite floated +by this rain. Oh! dear, I thought it would have been the death of me! +So I said, I was very much obliged to him: you know I could +not do less; and then he went back to Elizabeth, and I came round +by the stables--I believe I did--but I hardly knew where I was, +or any thing about it. Oh! Miss Woodhouse, I would rather done +any thing than have it happen: and yet, you know, there was a sort +of satisfaction in seeing him behave so pleasantly and so kindly. +And Elizabeth, too. Oh! Miss Woodhouse, do talk to me and make +me comfortable again." + +Very sincerely did Emma wish to do so; but it was not immediately in +her power. She was obliged to stop and think. She was not thoroughly +comfortable herself. The young man's conduct, and his sister's, +seemed the result of real feeling, and she could not but pity them. +As Harriet described it, there had been an interesting mixture +of wounded affection and genuine delicacy in their behaviour. +But she had believed them to be well-meaning, worthy people before; +and what difference did this make in the evils of the connexion? +It was folly to be disturbed by it. Of course, he must be sorry +to lose her--they must be all sorry. Ambition, as well as love, +had probably been mortified. They might all have hoped to rise +by Harriet's acquaintance: and besides, what was the value of +Harriet's description?--So easily pleased--so little discerning;-- +what signified her praise? + +She exerted herself, and did try to make her comfortable, +by considering all that had passed as a mere trifle, and quite +unworthy of being dwelt on, + +"It might be distressing, for the moment," said she; "but you seem +to have behaved extremely well; and it is over--and may never-- +can never, as a first meeting, occur again, and therefore you need +not think about it." + +Harriet said, "very true," and she "would not think about it;" +but still she talked of it--still she could talk of nothing else; +and Emma, at last, in order to put the Martins out of her head, +was obliged to hurry on the news, which she had meant to give +with so much tender caution; hardly knowing herself whether +to rejoice or be angry, ashamed or only amused, at such a state +of mind in poor Harriet--such a conclusion of Mr. Elton's importance +with her! + +Mr. Elton's rights, however, gradually revived. Though she did not +feel the first intelligence as she might have done the day before, +or an hour before, its interest soon increased; and before their +first conversation was over, she had talked herself into all the +sensations of curiosity, wonder and regret, pain and pleasure, +as to this fortunate Miss Hawkins, which could conduce to place +the Martins under proper subordination in her fancy. + +Emma learned to be rather glad that there had been such a meeting. +It had been serviceable in deadening the first shock, without retaining +any influence to alarm. As Harriet now lived, the Martins could +not get at her, without seeking her, where hitherto they had wanted +either the courage or the condescension to seek her; for since her +refusal of the brother, the sisters never had been at Mrs. Goddard's; +and a twelvemonth might pass without their being thrown together again, +with any necessity, or even any power of speech. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Human nature is so well disposed towards those who are in +interesting situations, that a young person, who either marries +or dies, is sure of being kindly spoken of. + +A week had not passed since Miss Hawkins's name was first +mentioned in Highbury, before she was, by some means or other, +discovered to have every recommendation of person and mind; +to be handsome, elegant, highly accomplished, and perfectly amiable: +and when Mr. Elton himself arrived to triumph in his happy prospects, +and circulate the fame of her merits, there was very little more +for him to do, than to tell her Christian name, and say whose +music she principally played. + +Mr. Elton returned, a very happy man. He had gone away rejected +and mortified--disappointed in a very sanguine hope, after a series +of what appeared to him strong encouragement; and not only losing +the right lady, but finding himself debased to the level of a very +wrong one. He had gone away deeply offended--he came back engaged +to another--and to another as superior, of course, to the first, +as under such circumstances what is gained always is to what is lost. +He came back gay and self-satisfied, eager and busy, caring nothing +for Miss Woodhouse, and defying Miss Smith. + +The charming Augusta Hawkins, in addition to all the usual advantages +of perfect beauty and merit, was in possession of an independent fortune, +of so many thousands as would always be called ten; a point of +some dignity, as well as some convenience: the story told well; +he had not thrown himself away--he had gained a woman of 10,000 l. +or thereabouts; and he had gained her with such delightful rapidity-- +the first hour of introduction had been so very soon followed by +distinguishing notice; the history which he had to give Mrs. Cole +of the rise and progress of the affair was so glorious--the steps +so quick, from the accidental rencontre, to the dinner at Mr. Green's, +and the party at Mrs. Brown's--smiles and blushes rising in importance-- +with consciousness and agitation richly scattered--the lady +had been so easily impressed--so sweetly disposed--had in short, +to use a most intelligible phrase, been so very ready to have him, +that vanity and prudence were equally contented. + +He had caught both substance and shadow--both fortune and affection, +and was just the happy man he ought to be; talking only of himself +and his own concerns--expecting to be congratulated--ready to be +laughed at--and, with cordial, fearless smiles, now addressing +all the young ladies of the place, to whom, a few weeks ago, +he would have been more cautiously gallant. + +The wedding was no distant event, as the parties had only themselves +to please, and nothing but the necessary preparations to wait for; +and when he set out for Bath again, there was a general expectation, +which a certain glance of Mrs. Cole's did not seem to contradict, +that when he next entered Highbury he would bring his bride. + +During his present short stay, Emma had barely seen him; but just +enough to feel that the first meeting was over, and to give her +the impression of his not being improved by the mixture of pique +and pretension, now spread over his air. She was, in fact, +beginning very much to wonder that she had ever thought him pleasing +at all; and his sight was so inseparably connected with some very +disagreeable feelings, that, except in a moral light, as a penance, +a lesson, a source of profitable humiliation to her own mind, +she would have been thankful to be assured of never seeing him again. +She wished him very well; but he gave her pain, and his welfare +twenty miles off would administer most satisfaction. + +The pain of his continued residence in Highbury, however, must certainly +be lessened by his marriage. Many vain solicitudes would be prevented-- +many awkwardnesses smoothed by it. A _Mrs._ _Elton_ would be an excuse for +any change of intercourse; former intimacy might sink without remark. +It would be almost beginning their life of civility again. + +Of the lady, individually, Emma thought very little. She was good +enough for Mr. Elton, no doubt; accomplished enough for Highbury-- +handsome enough--to look plain, probably, by Harriet's side. +As to connexion, there Emma was perfectly easy; persuaded, +that after all his own vaunted claims and disdain of Harriet, +he had done nothing. On that article, truth seemed attainable. +_What_ she was, must be uncertain; but _who_ she was, might be found out; +and setting aside the 10,000 l., it did not appear that she was at +all Harriet's superior. She brought no name, no blood, no alliance. +Miss Hawkins was the youngest of the two daughters of a Bristol-- +merchant, of course, he must be called; but, as the whole of the +profits of his mercantile life appeared so very moderate, it was +not unfair to guess the dignity of his line of trade had been very +moderate also. Part of every winter she had been used to spend in Bath; +but Bristol was her home, the very heart of Bristol; for though +the father and mother had died some years ago, an uncle remained-- +in the law line--nothing more distinctly honourable was hazarded +of him, than that he was in the law line; and with him the daughter +had lived. Emma guessed him to be the drudge of some attorney, +and too stupid to rise. And all the grandeur of the connexion +seemed dependent on the elder sister, who was _very_ _well_ _married_, +to a gentleman in a _great_ _way_, near Bristol, who kept two carriages! +That was the wind-up of the history; that was the glory of +Miss Hawkins. + +Could she but have given Harriet her feelings about it all! +She had talked her into love; but, alas! she was not so easily to be +talked out of it. The charm of an object to occupy the many vacancies +of Harriet's mind was not to be talked away. He might be superseded +by another; he certainly would indeed; nothing could be clearer; +even a Robert Martin would have been sufficient; but nothing else, +she feared, would cure her. Harriet was one of those, who, +having once begun, would be always in love. And now, poor girl! +she was considerably worse from this reappearance of Mr. Elton. +She was always having a glimpse of him somewhere or other. Emma saw +him only once; but two or three times every day Harriet was sure +_just_ to meet with him, or _just_ to miss him, _just_ to hear his voice, +or see his shoulder, _just_ to have something occur to preserve him +in her fancy, in all the favouring warmth of surprize and conjecture. +She was, moreover, perpetually hearing about him; for, excepting when +at Hartfield, she was always among those who saw no fault in Mr. Elton, +and found nothing so interesting as the discussion of his concerns; +and every report, therefore, every guess--all that had already +occurred, all that might occur in the arrangement of his affairs, +comprehending income, servants, and furniture, was continually +in agitation around her. Her regard was receiving strength by +invariable praise of him, and her regrets kept alive, and feelings +irritated by ceaseless repetitions of Miss Hawkins's happiness, +and continual observation of, how much he seemed attached!-- +his air as he walked by the house--the very sitting of his hat, +being all in proof of how much he was in love! + +Had it been allowable entertainment, had there been no pain +to her friend, or reproach to herself, in the waverings of +Harriet's mind, Emma would have been amused by its variations. +Sometimes Mr. Elton predominated, sometimes the Martins; and each +was occasionally useful as a check to the other. Mr. Elton's +engagement had been the cure of the agitation of meeting Mr. Martin. +The unhappiness produced by the knowledge of that engagement had been +a little put aside by Elizabeth Martin's calling at Mrs. Goddard's +a few days afterwards. Harriet had not been at home; but a note had +been prepared and left for her, written in the very style to touch; +a small mixture of reproach, with a great deal of kindness; +and till Mr. Elton himself appeared, she had been much occupied +by it, continually pondering over what could be done in return, +and wishing to do more than she dared to confess. But Mr. Elton, +in person, had driven away all such cares. While he staid, +the Martins were forgotten; and on the very morning of his setting off +for Bath again, Emma, to dissipate some of the distress it occasioned, +judged it best for her to return Elizabeth Martin's visit. + +How that visit was to be acknowledged--what would be necessary-- +and what might be safest, had been a point of some doubtful +consideration. Absolute neglect of the mother and sisters, +when invited to come, would be ingratitude. It must not be: +and yet the danger of a renewal of the acquaintance!-- + +After much thinking, she could determine on nothing better, than Harriet's +returning the visit; but in a way that, if they had understanding, +should convince them that it was to be only a formal acquaintance. +She meant to take her in the carriage, leave her at the Abbey Mill, +while she drove a little farther, and call for her again so soon, +as to allow no time for insidious applications or dangerous +recurrences to the past, and give the most decided proof of what +degree of intimacy was chosen for the future. + +She could think of nothing better: and though there was something +in it which her own heart could not approve--something of ingratitude, +merely glossed over--it must be done, or what would become of Harriet? + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Small heart had Harriet for visiting. Only half an hour before her +friend called for her at Mrs. Goddard's, her evil stars had led +her to the very spot where, at that moment, a trunk, directed to +_The_ _Rev._ _Philip_ _Elton_, _White-Hart_, _Bath_, was to be seen under the +operation of being lifted into the butcher's cart, which was to +convey it to where the coaches past; and every thing in this world, +excepting that trunk and the direction, was consequently a blank. + +She went, however; and when they reached the farm, and she was to +be put down, at the end of the broad, neat gravel walk, which led +between espalier apple-trees to the front door, the sight of every +thing which had given her so much pleasure the autumn before, +was beginning to revive a little local agitation; and when they parted, +Emma observed her to be looking around with a sort of fearful curiosity, +which determined her not to allow the visit to exceed the proposed +quarter of an hour. She went on herself, to give that portion +of time to an old servant who was married, and settled in Donwell. + +The quarter of an hour brought her punctually to the white gate again; +and Miss Smith receiving her summons, was with her without delay, +and unattended by any alarming young man. She came solitarily +down the gravel walk--a Miss Martin just appearing at the door, +and parting with her seemingly with ceremonious civility. + +Harriet could not very soon give an intelligible account. +She was feeling too much; but at last Emma collected from her +enough to understand the sort of meeting, and the sort of pain it +was creating. She had seen only Mrs. Martin and the two girls. +They had received her doubtingly, if not coolly; and nothing +beyond the merest commonplace had been talked almost all the time-- +till just at last, when Mrs. Martin's saying, all of a sudden, +that she thought Miss Smith was grown, had brought on a more +interesting subject, and a warmer manner. In that very room +she had been measured last September, with her two friends. +There were the pencilled marks and memorandums on the wainscot by +the window. _He_ had done it. They all seemed to remember the day, +the hour, the party, the occasion--to feel the same consciousness, +the same regrets--to be ready to return to the same good understanding; +and they were just growing again like themselves, (Harriet, as Emma +must suspect, as ready as the best of them to be cordial and happy,) +when the carriage reappeared, and all was over. The style of +the visit, and the shortness of it, were then felt to be decisive. +Fourteen minutes to be given to those with whom she had thankfully +passed six weeks not six months ago!--Emma could not but picture +it all, and feel how justly they might resent, how naturally +Harriet must suffer. It was a bad business. She would have given +a great deal, or endured a great deal, to have had the Martins +in a higher rank of life. They were so deserving, that a _little_ +higher should have been enough: but as it was, how could she have +done otherwise?--Impossible!--She could not repent. They must +be separated; but there was a great deal of pain in the process-- +so much to herself at this time, that she soon felt the necessity +of a little consolation, and resolved on going home by way of Randalls +to procure it. Her mind was quite sick of Mr. Elton and the Martins. +The refreshment of Randalls was absolutely necessary. + +It was a good scheme; but on driving to the door they heard +that neither "master nor mistress was at home;" they had both +been out some time; the man believed they were gone to Hartfield. + +"This is too bad," cried Emma, as they turned away. "And now we +shall just miss them; too provoking!--I do not know when I have been +so disappointed." And she leaned back in the corner, to indulge +her murmurs, or to reason them away; probably a little of both-- +such being the commonest process of a not ill-disposed mind. +Presently the carriage stopt; she looked up; it was stopt +by Mr. and Mrs. Weston, who were standing to speak to her. +There was instant pleasure in the sight of them, and still greater +pleasure was conveyed in sound--for Mr. Weston immediately accosted +her with, + +"How d'ye do?--how d'ye do?--We have been sitting with your father-- +glad to see him so well. Frank comes to-morrow--I had a letter +this morning--we see him to-morrow by dinner-time to a certainty-- +he is at Oxford to-day, and he comes for a whole fortnight; I knew it would +be so. If he had come at Christmas he could not have staid three days; +I was always glad he did not come at Christmas; now we are going +to have just the right weather for him, fine, dry, settled weather. +We shall enjoy him completely; every thing has turned out exactly +as we could wish." + +There was no resisting such news, no possibility of avoiding the +influence of such a happy face as Mr. Weston's, confirmed as it all +was by the words and the countenance of his wife, fewer and quieter, +but not less to the purpose. To know that _she_ thought his coming +certain was enough to make Emma consider it so, and sincerely did +she rejoice in their joy. It was a most delightful reanimation +of exhausted spirits. The worn-out past was sunk in the freshness +of what was coming; and in the rapidity of half a moment's thought, +she hoped Mr. Elton would now be talked of no more. + +Mr. Weston gave her the history of the engagements at Enscombe, +which allowed his son to answer for having an entire fortnight at +his command, as well as the route and the method of his journey; +and she listened, and smiled, and congratulated. + +"I shall soon bring him over to Hartfield," said he, at the conclusion. + +Emma could imagine she saw a touch of the arm at this speech, +from his wife. + +"We had better move on, Mr. Weston," said she, "we are detaining +the girls." + +"Well, well, I am ready;"--and turning again to Emma, "but you must +not be expecting such a _very_ fine young man; you have only had _my_ +account you know; I dare say he is really nothing extraordinary:"-- +though his own sparkling eyes at the moment were speaking a very +different conviction. + +Emma could look perfectly unconscious and innocent, and answer +in a manner that appropriated nothing. + +"Think of me to-morrow, my dear Emma, about four o'clock," +was Mrs. Weston's parting injunction; spoken with some anxiety, +and meant only for her. + +"Four o'clock!--depend upon it he will be here by three," was Mr. Weston's +quick amendment; and so ended a most satisfactory meeting. +Emma's spirits were mounted quite up to happiness; every thing wore +a different air; James and his horses seemed not half so sluggish +as before. When she looked at the hedges, she thought the elder at +least must soon be coming out; and when she turned round to Harriet, +she saw something like a look of spring, a tender smile even there. + +"Will Mr. Frank Churchill pass through Bath as well as Oxford?"-- +was a question, however, which did not augur much. + +But neither geography nor tranquillity could come all at once, +and Emma was now in a humour to resolve that they should both come +in time. + +The morning of the interesting day arrived, and Mrs. Weston's +faithful pupil did not forget either at ten, or eleven, or twelve +o'clock, that she was to think of her at four. + +"My dear, dear anxious friend,"--said she, in mental soliloquy, +while walking downstairs from her own room, "always overcareful +for every body's comfort but your own; I see you now in all your +little fidgets, going again and again into his room, to be sure +that all is right." The clock struck twelve as she passed through +the hall. "'Tis twelve; I shall not forget to think of you four +hours hence; and by this time to-morrow, perhaps, or a little later, +I may be thinking of the possibility of their all calling here. +I am sure they will bring him soon." + +She opened the parlour door, and saw two gentlemen sitting with +her father--Mr. Weston and his son. They had been arrived only +a few minutes, and Mr. Weston had scarcely finished his explanation +of Frank's being a day before his time, and her father was yet +in the midst of his very civil welcome and congratulations, when +she appeared, to have her share of surprize, introduction, and pleasure. + +The Frank Churchill so long talked of, so high in interest, +was actually before her--he was presented to her, and she did +not think too much had been said in his praise; he was a _very_ good +looking young man; height, air, address, all were unexceptionable, +and his countenance had a great deal of the spirit and liveliness +of his father's; he looked quick and sensible. She felt immediately +that she should like him; and there was a well-bred ease of manner, +and a readiness to talk, which convinced her that he came intending +to be acquainted with her, and that acquainted they soon must be. + +He had reached Randalls the evening before. She was pleased +with the eagerness to arrive which had made him alter his plan, +and travel earlier, later, and quicker, that he might gain half +a day. + +"I told you yesterday," cried Mr. Weston with exultation, "I told +you all that he would be here before the time named. I remembered +what I used to do myself. One cannot creep upon a journey; +one cannot help getting on faster than one has planned; and the +pleasure of coming in upon one's friends before the look-out begins, +is worth a great deal more than any little exertion it needs." + +"It is a great pleasure where one can indulge in it," said the young man, +"though there are not many houses that I should presume on so far; +but in coming _home_ I felt I might do any thing." + +The word _home_ made his father look on him with fresh complacency. +Emma was directly sure that he knew how to make himself agreeable; +the conviction was strengthened by what followed. He was very much +pleased with Randalls, thought it a most admirably arranged house, +would hardly allow it even to be very small, admired the situation, +the walk to Highbury, Highbury itself, Hartfield still more, +and professed himself to have always felt the sort of interest +in the country which none but one's _own_ country gives, and the +greatest curiosity to visit it. That he should never have been +able to indulge so amiable a feeling before, passed suspiciously +through Emma's brain; but still, if it were a falsehood, it was a +pleasant one, and pleasantly handled. His manner had no air of study +or exaggeration. He did really look and speak as if in a state of no +common enjoyment. + +Their subjects in general were such as belong to an opening acquaintance. +On his side were the inquiries,--"Was she a horsewoman?--Pleasant rides?-- +Pleasant walks?--Had they a large neighbourhood?--Highbury, perhaps, +afforded society enough?--There were several very pretty houses +in and about it.--Balls--had they balls?--Was it a musical society?" + +But when satisfied on all these points, and their acquaintance +proportionably advanced, he contrived to find an opportunity, +while their two fathers were engaged with each other, of introducing +his mother-in-law, and speaking of her with so much handsome praise, +so much warm admiration, so much gratitude for the happiness she +secured to his father, and her very kind reception of himself, +as was an additional proof of his knowing how to please-- +and of his certainly thinking it worth while to try to please her. +He did not advance a word of praise beyond what she knew to be +thoroughly deserved by Mrs. Weston; but, undoubtedly he could know +very little of the matter. He understood what would be welcome; +he could be sure of little else. "His father's marriage," he said, +"had been the wisest measure, every friend must rejoice in it; +and the family from whom he had received such a blessing must +be ever considered as having conferred the highest obligation +on him." + +He got as near as he could to thanking her for Miss Taylor's merits, +without seeming quite to forget that in the common course of things it +was to be rather supposed that Miss Taylor had formed Miss Woodhouse's +character, than Miss Woodhouse Miss Taylor's. And at last, as if resolved +to qualify his opinion completely for travelling round to its object, he +wound it all up with astonishment at the youth and beauty of her person. + +"Elegant, agreeable manners, I was prepared for," said he; +"but I confess that, considering every thing, I had not expected +more than a very tolerably well-looking woman of a certain age; +I did not know that I was to find a pretty young woman in Mrs. Weston." + +"You cannot see too much perfection in Mrs. Weston for my feelings," +said Emma; "were you to guess her to be _eighteen_, I should listen +with pleasure; but _she_ would be ready to quarrel with you for using +such words. Don't let her imagine that you have spoken of her as +a pretty young woman." + +"I hope I should know better," he replied; "no, depend upon it, +(with a gallant bow,) that in addressing Mrs. Weston I should +understand whom I might praise without any danger of being thought +extravagant in my terms." + +Emma wondered whether the same suspicion of what might be expected +from their knowing each other, which had taken strong possession +of her mind, had ever crossed his; and whether his compliments were +to be considered as marks of acquiescence, or proofs of defiance. +She must see more of him to understand his ways; at present she +only felt they were agreeable. + +She had no doubt of what Mr. Weston was often thinking about. +His quick eye she detected again and again glancing towards them +with a happy expression; and even, when he might have determined not +to look, she was confident that he was often listening. + +Her own father's perfect exemption from any thought of the kind, +the entire deficiency in him of all such sort of penetration +or suspicion, was a most comfortable circumstance. Happily he +was not farther from approving matrimony than from foreseeing it.-- +Though always objecting to every marriage that was arranged, +he never suffered beforehand from the apprehension of any; +it seemed as if he could not think so ill of any two persons' +understanding as to suppose they meant to marry till it were +proved against them. She blessed the favouring blindness. +He could now, without the drawback of a single unpleasant surmise, +without a glance forward at any possible treachery in his guest, +give way to all his natural kind-hearted civility in solicitous +inquiries after Mr. Frank Churchill's accommodation on his journey, +through the sad evils of sleeping two nights on the road, and express +very genuine unmixed anxiety to know that he had certainly escaped +catching cold--which, however, he could not allow him to feel quite +assured of himself till after another night. + +A reasonable visit paid, Mr. Weston began to move.--"He must be going. +He had business at the Crown about his hay, and a great many errands +for Mrs. Weston at Ford's, but he need not hurry any body else." +His son, too well bred to hear the hint, rose immediately also, +saying, + +"As you are going farther on business, sir, I will take the +opportunity of paying a visit, which must be paid some day or other, +and therefore may as well be paid now. I have the honour of being +acquainted with a neighbour of yours, (turning to Emma,) a lady +residing in or near Highbury; a family of the name of Fairfax. +I shall have no difficulty, I suppose, in finding the house; +though Fairfax, I believe, is not the proper name--I should rather +say Barnes, or Bates. Do you know any family of that name?" + +"To be sure we do," cried his father; "Mrs. Bates--we passed her house-- +I saw Miss Bates at the window. True, true, you are acquainted +with Miss Fairfax; I remember you knew her at Weymouth, and a fine +girl she is. Call upon her, by all means." + +"There is no necessity for my calling this morning," said the +young man; "another day would do as well; but there was that degree +of acquaintance at Weymouth which--" + +"Oh! go to-day, go to-day. Do not defer it. What is right to be done +cannot be done too soon. And, besides, I must give you a hint, Frank; +any want of attention to her _here_ should be carefully avoided. +You saw her with the Campbells, when she was the equal of every body +she mixed with, but here she is with a poor old grandmother, +who has barely enough to live on. If you do not call early it +will be a slight." + +The son looked convinced. + +"I have heard her speak of the acquaintance," said Emma; "she is +a very elegant young woman." + +He agreed to it, but with so quiet a "Yes," as inclined her almost +to doubt his real concurrence; and yet there must be a very distinct +sort of elegance for the fashionable world, if Jane Fairfax could +be thought only ordinarily gifted with it. + +"If you were never particularly struck by her manners before," +said she, "I think you will to-day. You will see her to advantage; +see her and hear her--no, I am afraid you will not hear her at all, +for she has an aunt who never holds her tongue." + +"You are acquainted with Miss Jane Fairfax, sir, are you?" +said Mr. Woodhouse, always the last to make his way in conversation; +"then give me leave to assure you that you will find her a very +agreeable young lady. She is staying here on a visit to her grandmama +and aunt, very worthy people; I have known them all my life. +They will be extremely glad to see you, I am sure; and one of my +servants shall go with you to shew you the way." + +"My dear sir, upon no account in the world; my father can direct me." + +"But your father is not going so far; he is only going to the Crown, +quite on the other side of the street, and there are a great many houses; +you might be very much at a loss, and it is a very dirty walk, +unless you keep on the footpath; but my coachman can tell you +where you had best cross the street." + +Mr. Frank Churchill still declined it, looking as serious as he could, +and his father gave his hearty support by calling out, "My good friend, +this is quite unnecessary; Frank knows a puddle of water when he +sees it, and as to Mrs. Bates's, he may get there from the Crown +in a hop, step, and jump." + +They were permitted to go alone; and with a cordial nod from one, +and a graceful bow from the other, the two gentlemen took leave. +Emma remained very well pleased with this beginning of the acquaintance, +and could now engage to think of them all at Randalls any hour of +the day, with full confidence in their comfort. + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +The next morning brought Mr. Frank Churchill again. He came with +Mrs. Weston, to whom and to Highbury he seemed to take very cordially. +He had been sitting with her, it appeared, most companionably at home, +till her usual hour of exercise; and on being desired to chuse +their walk, immediately fixed on Highbury.--"He did not doubt there +being very pleasant walks in every direction, but if left to him, +he should always chuse the same. Highbury, that airy, cheerful, +happy-looking Highbury, would be his constant attraction."-- +Highbury, with Mrs. Weston, stood for Hartfield; and she trusted to +its bearing the same construction with him. They walked thither directly. + +Emma had hardly expected them: for Mr. Weston, who had called in +for half a minute, in order to hear that his son was very handsome, +knew nothing of their plans; and it was an agreeable surprize +to her, therefore, to perceive them walking up to the house together, +arm in arm. She was wanting to see him again, and especially +to see him in company with Mrs. Weston, upon his behaviour to whom +her opinion of him was to depend. If he were deficient there, +nothing should make amends for it. But on seeing them together, +she became perfectly satisfied. It was not merely in fine words +or hyperbolical compliment that he paid his duty; nothing could be +more proper or pleasing than his whole manner to her--nothing could +more agreeably denote his wish of considering her as a friend and +securing her affection. And there was time enough for Emma to form a +reasonable judgment, as their visit included all the rest of the morning. +They were all three walking about together for an hour or two-- +first round the shrubberies of Hartfield, and afterwards in Highbury. +He was delighted with every thing; admired Hartfield sufficiently +for Mr. Woodhouse's ear; and when their going farther was resolved on, +confessed his wish to be made acquainted with the whole village, +and found matter of commendation and interest much oftener than Emma +could have supposed. + +Some of the objects of his curiosity spoke very amiable feelings. +He begged to be shewn the house which his father had lived in so long, +and which had been the home of his father's father; and on recollecting +that an old woman who had nursed him was still living, walked in quest +of her cottage from one end of the street to the other; and though +in some points of pursuit or observation there was no positive merit, +they shewed, altogether, a good-will towards Highbury in general, +which must be very like a merit to those he was with. + +Emma watched and decided, that with such feelings as were now shewn, +it could not be fairly supposed that he had been ever voluntarily +absenting himself; that he had not been acting a part, or making +a parade of insincere professions; and that Mr. Knightley certainly +had not done him justice. + +Their first pause was at the Crown Inn, an inconsiderable house, +though the principal one of the sort, where a couple of pair of +post-horses were kept, more for the convenience of the neighbourhood +than from any run on the road; and his companions had not expected +to be detained by any interest excited there; but in passing it they +gave the history of the large room visibly added; it had been built +many years ago for a ball-room, and while the neighbourhood had been +in a particularly populous, dancing state, had been occasionally used +as such;--but such brilliant days had long passed away, and now the +highest purpose for which it was ever wanted was to accommodate a whist +club established among the gentlemen and half-gentlemen of the place. +He was immediately interested. Its character as a ball-room caught him; +and instead of passing on, he stopt for several minutes at the two +superior sashed windows which were open, to look in and contemplate +its capabilities, and lament that its original purpose should +have ceased. He saw no fault in the room, he would acknowledge +none which they suggested. No, it was long enough, broad enough, +handsome enough. It would hold the very number for comfort. +They ought to have balls there at least every fortnight through +the winter. Why had not Miss Woodhouse revived the former good +old days of the room?--She who could do any thing in Highbury! +The want of proper families in the place, and the conviction +that none beyond the place and its immediate environs could be +tempted to attend, were mentioned; but he was not satisfied. +He could not be persuaded that so many good-looking houses as he saw +around him, could not furnish numbers enough for such a meeting; +and even when particulars were given and families described, he was +still unwilling to admit that the inconvenience of such a mixture +would be any thing, or that there would be the smallest difficulty +in every body's returning into their proper place the next morning. +He argued like a young man very much bent on dancing; and Emma +was rather surprized to see the constitution of the Weston prevail +so decidedly against the habits of the Churchills. He seemed to have +all the life and spirit, cheerful feelings, and social inclinations +of his father, and nothing of the pride or reserve of Enscombe. +Of pride, indeed, there was, perhaps, scarcely enough; his indifference +to a confusion of rank, bordered too much on inelegance of mind. +He could be no judge, however, of the evil he was holding cheap. +It was but an effusion of lively spirits. + +At last he was persuaded to move on from the front of the Crown; +and being now almost facing the house where the Bateses lodged, +Emma recollected his intended visit the day before, and asked him +if he had paid it. + +"Yes, oh! yes"--he replied; "I was just going to mention it. +A very successful visit:--I saw all the three ladies; and felt very +much obliged to you for your preparatory hint. If the talking aunt +had taken me quite by surprize, it must have been the death of me. +As it was, I was only betrayed into paying a most unreasonable visit. +Ten minutes would have been all that was necessary, perhaps all that +was proper; and I had told my father I should certainly be at home +before him--but there was no getting away, no pause; and, to my +utter astonishment, I found, when he (finding me nowhere else) +joined me there at last, that I had been actually sitting with them +very nearly three-quarters of an hour. The good lady had not given me +the possibility of escape before." + +"And how did you think Miss Fairfax looking?" + +"Ill, very ill--that is, if a young lady can ever be allowed to look ill. +But the expression is hardly admissible, Mrs. Weston, is it? +Ladies can never look ill. And, seriously, Miss Fairfax is naturally +so pale, as almost always to give the appearance of ill health.-- +A most deplorable want of complexion." + +Emma would not agree to this, and began a warm defence of Miss +Fairfax's complexion. "It was certainly never brilliant, but she +would not allow it to have a sickly hue in general; and there was +a softness and delicacy in her skin which gave peculiar elegance +to the character of her face." He listened with all due deference; +acknowledged that he had heard many people say the same--but yet he +must confess, that to him nothing could make amends for the want +of the fine glow of health. Where features were indifferent, +a fine complexion gave beauty to them all; and where they were good, +the effect was--fortunately he need not attempt to describe what the +effect was. + +"Well," said Emma, "there is no disputing about taste.--At least +you admire her except her complexion." + +He shook his head and laughed.--"I cannot separate Miss Fairfax +and her complexion." + +"Did you see her often at Weymouth? Were you often in the same society?" + +At this moment they were approaching Ford's, and he hastily exclaimed, +"Ha! this must be the very shop that every body attends every day +of their lives, as my father informs me. He comes to Highbury himself, +he says, six days out of the seven, and has always business at Ford's. +If it be not inconvenient to you, pray let us go in, that I may prove +myself to belong to the place, to be a true citizen of Highbury. +I must buy something at Ford's. It will be taking out my freedom.-- +I dare say they sell gloves." + +"Oh! yes, gloves and every thing. I do admire your patriotism. +You will be adored in Highbury. You were very popular before you came, +because you were Mr. Weston's son--but lay out half a guinea at +Ford's, and your popularity will stand upon your own virtues." + +They went in; and while the sleek, well-tied parcels of "Men's Beavers" +and "York Tan" were bringing down and displaying on the counter, +he said--"But I beg your pardon, Miss Woodhouse, you were speaking +to me, you were saying something at the very moment of this burst +of my _amor_ _patriae_. Do not let me lose it. I assure you the utmost +stretch of public fame would not make me amends for the loss of any +happiness in private life." + +"I merely asked, whether you had known much of Miss Fairfax +and her party at Weymouth." + +"And now that I understand your question, I must pronounce it to be a +very unfair one. It is always the lady's right to decide on the degree +of acquaintance. Miss Fairfax must already have given her account.-- +I shall not commit myself by claiming more than she may chuse to allow." + +"Upon my word! you answer as discreetly as she could do herself. +But her account of every thing leaves so much to be guessed, +she is so very reserved, so very unwilling to give the least +information about any body, that I really think you may say what you +like of your acquaintance with her." + +"May I, indeed?--Then I will speak the truth, and nothing suits me +so well. I met her frequently at Weymouth. I had known the Campbells +a little in town; and at Weymouth we were very much in the same set. +Colonel Campbell is a very agreeable man, and Mrs. Campbell a friendly, +warm-hearted woman. I like them all." + +"You know Miss Fairfax's situation in life, I conclude; what she +is destined to be?" + +"Yes--(rather hesitatingly)--I believe I do." + +"You get upon delicate subjects, Emma," said Mrs. Weston smiling; +"remember that I am here.--Mr. Frank Churchill hardly knows +what to say when you speak of Miss Fairfax's situation in life. +I will move a little farther off." + +"I certainly do forget to think of _her_," said Emma, "as having ever +been any thing but my friend and my dearest friend." + +He looked as if he fully understood and honoured such a sentiment. + +When the gloves were bought, and they had quitted the shop again, +"Did you ever hear the young lady we were speaking of, play?" +said Frank Churchill. + +"Ever hear her!" repeated Emma. "You forget how much she belongs +to Highbury. I have heard her every year of our lives since we +both began. She plays charmingly." + +"You think so, do you?--I wanted the opinion of some one who +could really judge. She appeared to me to play well, that is, +with considerable taste, but I know nothing of the matter myself.-- +I am excessively fond of music, but without the smallest skill +or right of judging of any body's performance.--I have been used +to hear her's admired; and I remember one proof of her being +thought to play well:--a man, a very musical man, and in love +with another woman--engaged to her--on the point of marriage-- +would yet never ask that other woman to sit down to the instrument, +if the lady in question could sit down instead--never seemed +to like to hear one if he could hear the other. That, I thought, +in a man of known musical talent, was some proof." + +"Proof indeed!" said Emma, highly amused.--"Mr. Dixon is very musical, +is he? We shall know more about them all, in half an hour, from you, +than Miss Fairfax would have vouchsafed in half a year." + +"Yes, Mr. Dixon and Miss Campbell were the persons; and I thought +it a very strong proof." + +"Certainly--very strong it was; to own the truth, a great deal +stronger than, if _I_ had been Miss Campbell, would have been at all +agreeable to me. I could not excuse a man's having more music +than love--more ear than eye--a more acute sensibility to fine +sounds than to my feelings. How did Miss Campbell appear to like it?" + +"It was her very particular friend, you know." + +"Poor comfort!" said Emma, laughing. "One would rather have a stranger +preferred than one's very particular friend--with a stranger it might +not recur again--but the misery of having a very particular friend +always at hand, to do every thing better than one does oneself!-- +Poor Mrs. Dixon! Well, I am glad she is gone to settle in Ireland." + +"You are right. It was not very flattering to Miss Campbell; +but she really did not seem to feel it." + +"So much the better--or so much the worse:--I do not know which. +But be it sweetness or be it stupidity in her--quickness of friendship, +or dulness of feeling--there was one person, I think, who must have +felt it: Miss Fairfax herself. She must have felt the improper +and dangerous distinction." + +"As to that--I do not--" + +"Oh! do not imagine that I expect an account of Miss Fairfax's +sensations from you, or from any body else. They are known to no +human being, I guess, but herself. But if she continued to play +whenever she was asked by Mr. Dixon, one may guess what one chuses." + +"There appeared such a perfectly good understanding among them all--" +he began rather quickly, but checking himself, added, "however, it +is impossible for me to say on what terms they really were-- +how it might all be behind the scenes. I can only say that there +was smoothness outwardly. But you, who have known Miss Fairfax from +a child, must be a better judge of her character, and of how she +is likely to conduct herself in critical situations, than I can be." + +"I have known her from a child, undoubtedly; we have been children +and women together; and it is natural to suppose that we should +be intimate,--that we should have taken to each other whenever +she visited her friends. But we never did. I hardly know how it +has happened; a little, perhaps, from that wickedness on my side +which was prone to take disgust towards a girl so idolized +and so cried up as she always was, by her aunt and grandmother, +and all their set. And then, her reserve--I never could attach +myself to any one so completely reserved." + +"It is a most repulsive quality, indeed," said he. "Oftentimes +very convenient, no doubt, but never pleasing. There is safety +in reserve, but no attraction. One cannot love a reserved person." + +"Not till the reserve ceases towards oneself; and then the attraction +may be the greater. But I must be more in want of a friend, +or an agreeable companion, than I have yet been, to take +the trouble of conquering any body's reserve to procure one. +Intimacy between Miss Fairfax and me is quite out of the question. +I have no reason to think ill of her--not the least--except that +such extreme and perpetual cautiousness of word and manner, +such a dread of giving a distinct idea about any body, is apt +to suggest suspicions of there being something to conceal." + +He perfectly agreed with her: and after walking together so long, +and thinking so much alike, Emma felt herself so well acquainted with him, +that she could hardly believe it to be only their second meeting. +He was not exactly what she had expected; less of the man of the +world in some of his notions, less of the spoiled child of fortune, +therefore better than she had expected. His ideas seemed more moderate-- +his feelings warmer. She was particularly struck by his manner +of considering Mr. Elton's house, which, as well as the church, +he would go and look at, and would not join them in finding much +fault with. No, he could not believe it a bad house; not such a house +as a man was to be pitied for having. If it were to be shared with +the woman he loved, he could not think any man to be pitied for having +that house. There must be ample room in it for every real comfort. +The man must be a blockhead who wanted more. + +Mrs. Weston laughed, and said he did not know what he was talking about. +Used only to a large house himself, and without ever thinking how many +advantages and accommodations were attached to its size, he could +be no judge of the privations inevitably belonging to a small one. +But Emma, in her own mind, determined that he _did_ know what he +was talking about, and that he shewed a very amiable inclination +to settle early in life, and to marry, from worthy motives. +He might not be aware of the inroads on domestic peace to be +occasioned by no housekeeper's room, or a bad butler's pantry, +but no doubt he did perfectly feel that Enscombe could not make +him happy, and that whenever he were attached, he would willingly +give up much of wealth to be allowed an early establishment. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +Emma's very good opinion of Frank Churchill was a little shaken +the following day, by hearing that he was gone off to London, +merely to have his hair cut. A sudden freak seemed to have seized him +at breakfast, and he had sent for a chaise and set off, intending to +return to dinner, but with no more important view that appeared than +having his hair cut. There was certainly no harm in his travelling +sixteen miles twice over on such an errand; but there was an air +of foppery and nonsense in it which she could not approve. It did +not accord with the rationality of plan, the moderation in expense, +or even the unselfish warmth of heart, which she had believed herself +to discern in him yesterday. Vanity, extravagance, love of change, +restlessness of temper, which must be doing something, good or bad; +heedlessness as to the pleasure of his father and Mrs. Weston, +indifferent as to how his conduct might appear in general; he became +liable to all these charges. His father only called him a coxcomb, +and thought it a very good story; but that Mrs. Weston did not like it, +was clear enough, by her passing it over as quickly as possible, +and making no other comment than that "all young people would have +their little whims." + +With the exception of this little blot, Emma found that his visit +hitherto had given her friend only good ideas of him. Mrs. Weston +was very ready to say how attentive and pleasant a companion he +made himself--how much she saw to like in his disposition altogether. +He appeared to have a very open temper--certainly a very cheerful +and lively one; she could observe nothing wrong in his notions, +a great deal decidedly right; he spoke of his uncle with warm regard, +was fond of talking of him--said he would be the best man in the +world if he were left to himself; and though there was no being +attached to the aunt, he acknowledged her kindness with gratitude, +and seemed to mean always to speak of her with respect. +This was all very promising; and, but for such an unfortunate fancy +for having his hair cut, there was nothing to denote him unworthy +of the distinguished honour which her imagination had given him; +the honour, if not of being really in love with her, of being +at least very near it, and saved only by her own indifference-- +(for still her resolution held of never marrying)--the honour, in short, +of being marked out for her by all their joint acquaintance. + +Mr. Weston, on his side, added a virtue to the account which must +have some weight. He gave her to understand that Frank admired +her extremely--thought her very beautiful and very charming; +and with so much to be said for him altogether, she found she must +not judge him harshly. As Mrs. Weston observed, "all young people +would have their little whims." + +There was one person among his new acquaintance in Surry, not so +leniently disposed. In general he was judged, throughout the parishes +of Donwell and Highbury, with great candour; liberal allowances +were made for the little excesses of such a handsome young man-- +one who smiled so often and bowed so well; but there was one spirit +among them not to be softened, from its power of censure, by bows +or smiles--Mr. Knightley. The circumstance was told him at Hartfield; +for the moment, he was silent; but Emma heard him almost immediately +afterwards say to himself, over a newspaper he held in his hand, +"Hum! just the trifling, silly fellow I took him for." She had +half a mind to resent; but an instant's observation convinced +her that it was really said only to relieve his own feelings, +and not meant to provoke; and therefore she let it pass. + +Although in one instance the bearers of not good tidings, +Mr. and Mrs. Weston's visit this morning was in another respect +particularly opportune. Something occurred while they were +at Hartfield, to make Emma want their advice; and, which was +still more lucky, she wanted exactly the advice they gave. + +This was the occurrence:--The Coles had been settled some years +in Highbury, and were very good sort of people--friendly, liberal, +and unpretending; but, on the other hand, they were of low origin, +in trade, and only moderately genteel. On their first coming into +the country, they had lived in proportion to their income, quietly, +keeping little company, and that little unexpensively; but the last +year or two had brought them a considerable increase of means-- +the house in town had yielded greater profits, and fortune in general +had smiled on them. With their wealth, their views increased; +their want of a larger house, their inclination for more company. +They added to their house, to their number of servants, +to their expenses of every sort; and by this time were, in fortune +and style of living, second only to the family at Hartfield. +Their love of society, and their new dining-room, prepared every body +for their keeping dinner-company; and a few parties, chiefly among +the single men, had already taken place. The regular and best +families Emma could hardly suppose they would presume to invite-- +neither Donwell, nor Hartfield, nor Randalls. Nothing should +tempt _her_ to go, if they did; and she regretted that her father's +known habits would be giving her refusal less meaning than she +could wish. The Coles were very respectable in their way, but they +ought to be taught that it was not for them to arrange the terms +on which the superior families would visit them. This lesson, +she very much feared, they would receive only from herself; +she had little hope of Mr. Knightley, none of Mr. Weston. + +But she had made up her mind how to meet this presumption so many +weeks before it appeared, that when the insult came at last, +it found her very differently affected. Donwell and Randalls +had received their invitation, and none had come for her father +and herself; and Mrs. Weston's accounting for it with "I suppose +they will not take the liberty with you; they know you do not +dine out," was not quite sufficient. She felt that she should +like to have had the power of refusal; and afterwards, as the idea +of the party to be assembled there, consisting precisely of those +whose society was dearest to her, occurred again and again, +she did not know that she might not have been tempted to accept. +Harriet was to be there in the evening, and the Bateses. They had +been speaking of it as they walked about Highbury the day before, +and Frank Churchill had most earnestly lamented her absence. +Might not the evening end in a dance? had been a question of his. +The bare possibility of it acted as a farther irritation on her spirits; +and her being left in solitary grandeur, even supposing the omission +to be intended as a compliment, was but poor comfort. + +It was the arrival of this very invitation while the Westons were +at Hartfield, which made their presence so acceptable; for though her +first remark, on reading it, was that "of course it must be declined," +she so very soon proceeded to ask them what they advised her to do, +that their advice for her going was most prompt and successful. + +She owned that, considering every thing, she was not absolutely +without inclination for the party. The Coles expressed themselves +so properly--there was so much real attention in the manner of it-- +so much consideration for her father. "They would have solicited the +honour earlier, but had been waiting the arrival of a folding-screen +from London, which they hoped might keep Mr. Woodhouse from any draught +of air, and therefore induce him the more readily to give them the +honour of his company." Upon the whole, she was very persuadable; +and it being briefly settled among themselves how it might be +done without neglecting his comfort--how certainly Mrs. Goddard, +if not Mrs. Bates, might be depended on for bearing him company-- +Mr. Woodhouse was to be talked into an acquiescence of his daughter's +going out to dinner on a day now near at hand, and spending +the whole evening away from him. As for _his_ going, Emma did +not wish him to think it possible, the hours would be too late, +and the party too numerous. He was soon pretty well resigned. + +"I am not fond of dinner-visiting," said he--"I never was. +No more is Emma. Late hours do not agree with us. I am sorry +Mr. and Mrs. Cole should have done it. I think it would be +much better if they would come in one afternoon next summer, +and take their tea with us--take us in their afternoon walk; +which they might do, as our hours are so reasonable, and yet get home +without being out in the damp of the evening. The dews of a summer +evening are what I would not expose any body to. However, as they +are so very desirous to have dear Emma dine with them, and as you +will both be there, and Mr. Knightley too, to take care of her, +I cannot wish to prevent it, provided the weather be what it ought, +neither damp, nor cold, nor windy." Then turning to Mrs. Weston, +with a look of gentle reproach--"Ah! Miss Taylor, if you had +not married, you would have staid at home with me." + +"Well, sir," cried Mr. Weston, "as I took Miss Taylor away, +it is incumbent on me to supply her place, if I can; and I will +step to Mrs. Goddard in a moment, if you wish it." + +But the idea of any thing to be done in a _moment_, was increasing, +not lessening, Mr. Woodhouse's agitation. The ladies knew better +how to allay it. Mr. Weston must be quiet, and every thing +deliberately arranged. + +With this treatment, Mr. Woodhouse was soon composed enough +for talking as usual. "He should be happy to see Mrs. Goddard. +He had a great regard for Mrs. Goddard; and Emma should write a line, +and invite her. James could take the note. But first of all, +there must be an answer written to Mrs. Cole." + +"You will make my excuses, my dear, as civilly as possible. You will +say that I am quite an invalid, and go no where, and therefore must +decline their obliging invitation; beginning with my _compliments_, +of course. But you will do every thing right. I need not tell you +what is to be done. We must remember to let James know that the carriage +will be wanted on Tuesday. I shall have no fears for you with him. +We have never been there above once since the new approach was made; +but still I have no doubt that James will take you very safely. +And when you get there, you must tell him at what time you would +have him come for you again; and you had better name an early hour. +You will not like staying late. You will get very tired when tea +is over." + +"But you would not wish me to come away before I am tired, papa?" + +"Oh! no, my love; but you will soon be tired. There will be +a great many people talking at once. You will not like the noise." + +"But, my dear sir," cried Mr. Weston, "if Emma comes away early, +it will be breaking up the party." + +"And no great harm if it does," said Mr. Woodhouse. "The sooner +every party breaks up, the better." + +"But you do not consider how it may appear to the Coles. +Emma's going away directly after tea might be giving offence. +They are good-natured people, and think little of their own claims; +but still they must feel that any body's hurrying away is no +great compliment; and Miss Woodhouse's doing it would be more thought +of than any other person's in the room. You would not wish to disappoint +and mortify the Coles, I am sure, sir; friendly, good sort of people +as ever lived, and who have been your neighbours these _ten_ years." + +"No, upon no account in the world, Mr. Weston; I am much obliged +to you for reminding me. I should be extremely sorry to be giving +them any pain. I know what worthy people they are. Perry tells +me that Mr. Cole never touches malt liquor. You would not think +it to look at him, but he is bilious--Mr. Cole is very bilious. +No, I would not be the means of giving them any pain. My dear Emma, +we must consider this. I am sure, rather than run the risk of hurting +Mr. and Mrs. Cole, you would stay a little longer than you might wish. +You will not regard being tired. You will be perfectly safe, +you know, among your friends." + +"Oh yes, papa. I have no fears at all for myself; and I should have +no scruples of staying as late as Mrs. Weston, but on your account. +I am only afraid of your sitting up for me. I am not afraid +of your not being exceedingly comfortable with Mrs. Goddard. +She loves piquet, you know; but when she is gone home, I am afraid +you will be sitting up by yourself, instead of going to bed at your +usual time--and the idea of that would entirely destroy my comfort. +You must promise me not to sit up." + +He did, on the condition of some promises on her side: such as that, +if she came home cold, she would be sure to warm herself thoroughly; +if hungry, that she would take something to eat; that her own maid +should sit up for her; and that Serle and the butler should see +that every thing were safe in the house, as usual. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Frank Churchill came back again; and if he kept his father's +dinner waiting, it was not known at Hartfield; for Mrs. Weston +was too anxious for his being a favourite with Mr. Woodhouse, +to betray any imperfection which could be concealed. + +He came back, had had his hair cut, and laughed at himself with +a very good grace, but without seeming really at all ashamed +of what he had done. He had no reason to wish his hair longer, +to conceal any confusion of face; no reason to wish the money unspent, +to improve his spirits. He was quite as undaunted and as lively +as ever; and, after seeing him, Emma thus moralised to herself:-- + +"I do not know whether it ought to be so, but certainly silly things +do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an +impudent way. Wickedness is always wickedness, but folly is not +always folly.--It depends upon the character of those who handle it. +Mr. Knightley, he is _not_ a trifling, silly young man. If he were, +he would have done this differently. He would either have gloried +in the achievement, or been ashamed of it. There would have been +either the ostentation of a coxcomb, or the evasions of a mind too +weak to defend its own vanities.--No, I am perfectly sure that he +is not trifling or silly." + +With Tuesday came the agreeable prospect of seeing him again, +and for a longer time than hitherto; of judging of his general manners, +and by inference, of the meaning of his manners towards herself; +of guessing how soon it might be necessary for her to throw coldness +into her air; and of fancying what the observations of all those +might be, who were now seeing them together for the first time. + +She meant to be very happy, in spite of the scene being laid at +Mr. Cole's; and without being able to forget that among the failings +of Mr. Elton, even in the days of his favour, none had disturbed +her more than his propensity to dine with Mr. Cole. + +Her father's comfort was amply secured, Mrs. Bates as well as +Mrs. Goddard being able to come; and her last pleasing duty, +before she left the house, was to pay her respects to them as +they sat together after dinner; and while her father was fondly +noticing the beauty of her dress, to make the two ladies all +the amends in her power, by helping them to large slices of cake +and full glasses of wine, for whatever unwilling self-denial his +care of their constitution might have obliged them to practise +during the meal.--She had provided a plentiful dinner for them; +she wished she could know that they had been allowed to eat it. + +She followed another carriage to Mr. Cole's door; and was pleased +to see that it was Mr. Knightley's; for Mr. Knightley keeping +no horses, having little spare money and a great deal of health, +activity, and independence, was too apt, in Emma's opinion, to get +about as he could, and not use his carriage so often as became +the owner of Donwell Abbey. She had an opportunity now of speaking +her approbation while warm from her heart, for he stopped to hand her out. + +"This is coming as you should do," said she; "like a gentleman.-- +I am quite glad to see you." + +He thanked her, observing, "How lucky that we should arrive at the same +moment! for, if we had met first in the drawing-room, I doubt whether +you would have discerned me to be more of a gentleman than usual.-- +You might not have distinguished how I came, by my look or manner." + +"Yes I should, I am sure I should. There is always a look of +consciousness or bustle when people come in a way which they know +to be beneath them. You think you carry it off very well, I dare say, +but with you it is a sort of bravado, an air of affected unconcern; +I always observe it whenever I meet you under those circumstances. +_Now_ you have nothing to try for. You are not afraid of being +supposed ashamed. You are not striving to look taller than any +body else. _Now_ I shall really be very happy to walk into the same +room with you." + +"Nonsensical girl!" was his reply, but not at all in anger. + +Emma had as much reason to be satisfied with the rest of the party +as with Mr. Knightley. She was received with a cordial respect +which could not but please, and given all the consequence she could +wish for. When the Westons arrived, the kindest looks of love, +the strongest of admiration were for her, from both husband and wife; +the son approached her with a cheerful eagerness which marked +her as his peculiar object, and at dinner she found him seated +by her--and, as she firmly believed, not without some dexterity +on his side. + +The party was rather large, as it included one other family, a proper +unobjectionable country family, whom the Coles had the advantage of +naming among their acquaintance, and the male part of Mr. Cox's family, +the lawyer of Highbury. The less worthy females were to come +in the evening, with Miss Bates, Miss Fairfax, and Miss Smith; +but already, at dinner, they were too numerous for any subject +of conversation to be general; and, while politics and Mr. Elton +were talked over, Emma could fairly surrender all her attention to +the pleasantness of her neighbour. The first remote sound to which +she felt herself obliged to attend, was the name of Jane Fairfax. +Mrs. Cole seemed to be relating something of her that was expected to be +very interesting. She listened, and found it well worth listening to. +That very dear part of Emma, her fancy, received an amusing supply. +Mrs. Cole was telling that she had been calling on Miss Bates, +and as soon as she entered the room had been struck by the sight +of a pianoforte--a very elegant looking instrument--not a grand, +but a large-sized square pianoforte; and the substance of the story, +the end of all the dialogue which ensued of surprize, and inquiry, +and congratulations on her side, and explanations on Miss Bates's, was, +that this pianoforte had arrived from Broadwood's the day before, +to the great astonishment of both aunt and niece--entirely unexpected; +that at first, by Miss Bates's account, Jane herself was quite at +a loss, quite bewildered to think who could possibly have ordered it-- +but now, they were both perfectly satisfied that it could be from only +one quarter;--of course it must be from Colonel Campbell. + +"One can suppose nothing else," added Mrs. Cole, "and I was only +surprized that there could ever have been a doubt. But Jane, +it seems, had a letter from them very lately, and not a word was said +about it. She knows their ways best; but I should not consider their +silence as any reason for their not meaning to make the present. +They might chuse to surprize her." + +Mrs. Cole had many to agree with her; every body who spoke on the +subject was equally convinced that it must come from Colonel Campbell, +and equally rejoiced that such a present had been made; and there +were enough ready to speak to allow Emma to think her own way, +and still listen to Mrs. Cole. + +"I declare, I do not know when I have heard any thing that has given +me more satisfaction!--It always has quite hurt me that Jane Fairfax, +who plays so delightfully, should not have an instrument. +It seemed quite a shame, especially considering how many houses +there are where fine instruments are absolutely thrown away. +This is like giving ourselves a slap, to be sure! and it was +but yesterday I was telling Mr. Cole, I really was ashamed +to look at our new grand pianoforte in the drawing-room, while I +do not know one note from another, and our little girls, who are +but just beginning, perhaps may never make any thing of it; +and there is poor Jane Fairfax, who is mistress of music, has not +any thing of the nature of an instrument, not even the pitifullest +old spinet in the world, to amuse herself with.--I was saying this +to Mr. Cole but yesterday, and he quite agreed with me; only he +is so particularly fond of music that he could not help indulging +himself in the purchase, hoping that some of our good neighbours might +be so obliging occasionally to put it to a better use than we can; +and that really is the reason why the instrument was bought-- +or else I am sure we ought to be ashamed of it.--We are in great +hopes that Miss Woodhouse may be prevailed with to try it this evening." + +Miss Woodhouse made the proper acquiescence; and finding that nothing +more was to be entrapped from any communication of Mrs. Cole's, +turned to Frank Churchill. + +"Why do you smile?" said she. + +"Nay, why do you?" + +"Me!--I suppose I smile for pleasure at Colonel Campbell's being +so rich and so liberal.--It is a handsome present." + +"Very." + +"I rather wonder that it was never made before." + +"Perhaps Miss Fairfax has never been staying here so long before." + +"Or that he did not give her the use of their own instrument-- +which must now be shut up in London, untouched by any body." + +"That is a grand pianoforte, and he might think it too large +for Mrs. Bates's house." + +"You may _say_ what you chuse--but your countenance testifies +that your _thoughts_ on this subject are very much like mine." + +"I do not know. I rather believe you are giving me more credit for +acuteness than I deserve. I smile because you smile, and shall probably +suspect whatever I find you suspect; but at present I do not see what +there is to question. If Colonel Campbell is not the person, who can be?" + +"What do you say to Mrs. Dixon?" + +"Mrs. Dixon! very true indeed. I had not thought of Mrs. Dixon. +She must know as well as her father, how acceptable an instrument +would be; and perhaps the mode of it, the mystery, the surprize, +is more like a young woman's scheme than an elderly man's. It +is Mrs. Dixon, I dare say. I told you that your suspicions would +guide mine." + +"If so, you must extend your suspicions and comprehend _Mr_. Dixon +in them." + +"Mr. Dixon.--Very well. Yes, I immediately perceive that it must +be the joint present of Mr. and Mrs. Dixon. We were speaking the +other day, you know, of his being so warm an admirer of her performance." + +"Yes, and what you told me on that head, confirmed an idea which I +had entertained before.--I do not mean to reflect upon the good +intentions of either Mr. Dixon or Miss Fairfax, but I cannot help +suspecting either that, after making his proposals to her friend, +he had the misfortune to fall in love with _her_, or that he became +conscious of a little attachment on her side. One might guess +twenty things without guessing exactly the right; but I am sure +there must be a particular cause for her chusing to come to Highbury +instead of going with the Campbells to Ireland. Here, she must be +leading a life of privation and penance; there it would have been +all enjoyment. As to the pretence of trying her native air, I look +upon that as a mere excuse.--In the summer it might have passed; +but what can any body's native air do for them in the months +of January, February, and March? Good fires and carriages would +be much more to the purpose in most cases of delicate health, and I +dare say in her's. I do not require you to adopt all my suspicions, +though you make so noble a profession of doing it, but I honestly +tell you what they are." + +"And, upon my word, they have an air of great probability. +Mr. Dixon's preference of her music to her friend's, I can answer +for being very decided." + +"And then, he saved her life. Did you ever hear of that?-- +A water party; and by some accident she was falling overboard. +He caught her." + +"He did. I was there--one of the party." + +"Were you really?--Well!--But you observed nothing of course, +for it seems to be a new idea to you.--If I had been there, I think +I should have made some discoveries." + +"I dare say you would; but I, simple I, saw nothing but the fact, +that Miss Fairfax was nearly dashed from the vessel and that Mr. Dixon +caught her.--It was the work of a moment. And though the consequent +shock and alarm was very great and much more durable--indeed I +believe it was half an hour before any of us were comfortable again-- +yet that was too general a sensation for any thing of peculiar +anxiety to be observable. I do not mean to say, however, that you +might not have made discoveries." + +The conversation was here interrupted. They were called on to share +in the awkwardness of a rather long interval between the courses, +and obliged to be as formal and as orderly as the others; but when +the table was again safely covered, when every corner dish was placed +exactly right, and occupation and ease were generally restored, +Emma said, + +"The arrival of this pianoforte is decisive with me. I wanted to know +a little more, and this tells me quite enough. Depend upon it, +we shall soon hear that it is a present from Mr. and Mrs. Dixon." + +"And if the Dixons should absolutely deny all knowledge of it we +must conclude it to come from the Campbells." + +"No, I am sure it is not from the Campbells. Miss Fairfax knows it +is not from the Campbells, or they would have been guessed at first. +She would not have been puzzled, had she dared fix on them. +I may not have convinced you perhaps, but I am perfectly convinced +myself that Mr. Dixon is a principal in the business." + +"Indeed you injure me if you suppose me unconvinced. Your reasonings +carry my judgment along with them entirely. At first, while I +supposed you satisfied that Colonel Campbell was the giver, I saw +it only as paternal kindness, and thought it the most natural thing +in the world. But when you mentioned Mrs. Dixon, I felt how much more +probable that it should be the tribute of warm female friendship. +And now I can see it in no other light than as an offering of love." + +There was no occasion to press the matter farther. The conviction +seemed real; he looked as if he felt it. She said no more, +other subjects took their turn; and the rest of the dinner passed away; +the dessert succeeded, the children came in, and were talked +to and admired amid the usual rate of conversation; a few clever +things said, a few downright silly, but by much the larger proportion +neither the one nor the other--nothing worse than everyday remarks, +dull repetitions, old news, and heavy jokes. + +The ladies had not been long in the drawing-room, before the other ladies, +in their different divisions, arrived. Emma watched the entree of her +own particular little friend; and if she could not exult in her dignity +and grace, she could not only love the blooming sweetness and the +artless manner, but could most heartily rejoice in that light, cheerful, +unsentimental disposition which allowed her so many alleviations +of pleasure, in the midst of the pangs of disappointed affection. +There she sat--and who would have guessed how many tears she had +been lately shedding? To be in company, nicely dressed herself +and seeing others nicely dressed, to sit and smile and look pretty, +and say nothing, was enough for the happiness of the present hour. +Jane Fairfax did look and move superior; but Emma suspected she +might have been glad to change feelings with Harriet, very glad +to have purchased the mortification of having loved--yes, of having +loved even Mr. Elton in vain--by the surrender of all the dangerous +pleasure of knowing herself beloved by the husband of her friend. + +In so large a party it was not necessary that Emma should approach her. +She did not wish to speak of the pianoforte, she felt too much +in the secret herself, to think the appearance of curiosity +or interest fair, and therefore purposely kept at a distance; +but by the others, the subject was almost immediately introduced, +and she saw the blush of consciousness with which congratulations +were received, the blush of guilt which accompanied the name of "my +excellent friend Colonel Campbell." + +Mrs. Weston, kind-hearted and musical, was particularly interested +by the circumstance, and Emma could not help being amused at her +perseverance in dwelling on the subject; and having so much to ask +and to say as to tone, touch, and pedal, totally unsuspicious +of that wish of saying as little about it as possible, which she +plainly read in the fair heroine's countenance. + +They were soon joined by some of the gentlemen; and the very first of the +early was Frank Churchill. In he walked, the first and the handsomest; +and after paying his compliments en passant to Miss Bates and +her niece, made his way directly to the opposite side of the circle, +where sat Miss Woodhouse; and till he could find a seat by her, +would not sit at all. Emma divined what every body present must +be thinking. She was his object, and every body must perceive it. +She introduced him to her friend, Miss Smith, and, at convenient +moments afterwards, heard what each thought of the other. "He had +never seen so lovely a face, and was delighted with her naivete." +And she, "Only to be sure it was paying him too great a compliment, +but she did think there were some looks a little like Mr. Elton." +Emma restrained her indignation, and only turned from her in silence. + +Smiles of intelligence passed between her and the gentleman on first +glancing towards Miss Fairfax; but it was most prudent to avoid speech. +He told her that he had been impatient to leave the dining-room-- +hated sitting long--was always the first to move when he could-- +that his father, Mr. Knightley, Mr. Cox, and Mr. Cole, were left +very busy over parish business--that as long as he had staid, +however, it had been pleasant enough, as he had found them in general +a set of gentlemanlike, sensible men; and spoke so handsomely of +Highbury altogether--thought it so abundant in agreeable families-- +that Emma began to feel she had been used to despise the place +rather too much. She questioned him as to the society in Yorkshire-- +the extent of the neighbourhood about Enscombe, and the sort; +and could make out from his answers that, as far as Enscombe +was concerned, there was very little going on, that their visitings +were among a range of great families, none very near; and that even +when days were fixed, and invitations accepted, it was an even +chance that Mrs. Churchill were not in health and spirits for going; +that they made a point of visiting no fresh person; and that, +though he had his separate engagements, it was not without difficulty, +without considerable address _at_ _times_, that he could get away, +or introduce an acquaintance for a night. + +She saw that Enscombe could not satisfy, and that Highbury, +taken at its best, might reasonably please a young man who had more +retirement at home than he liked. His importance at Enscombe was +very evident. He did not boast, but it naturally betrayed itself, +that he had persuaded his aunt where his uncle could do nothing, +and on her laughing and noticing it, he owned that he believed (excepting +one or two points) he could _with_ _time_ persuade her to any thing. +One of those points on which his influence failed, he then mentioned. +He had wanted very much to go abroad--had been very eager indeed +to be allowed to travel--but she would not hear of it. This had +happened the year before. _Now_, he said, he was beginning to have +no longer the same wish. + +The unpersuadable point, which he did not mention, Emma guessed +to be good behaviour to his father. + +"I have made a most wretched discovery," said he, after a short pause.-- +"I have been here a week to-morrow--half my time. I never knew +days fly so fast. A week to-morrow!--And I have hardly begun to +enjoy myself. But just got acquainted with Mrs. Weston, and others!-- +I hate the recollection." + +"Perhaps you may now begin to regret that you spent one whole day, +out of so few, in having your hair cut." + +"No," said he, smiling, "that is no subject of regret at all. +I have no pleasure in seeing my friends, unless I can believe myself +fit to be seen." + +The rest of the gentlemen being now in the room, Emma found herself +obliged to turn from him for a few minutes, and listen to Mr. Cole. +When Mr. Cole had moved away, and her attention could be restored +as before, she saw Frank Churchill looking intently across the room +at Miss Fairfax, who was sitting exactly opposite. + +"What is the matter?" said she. + +He started. "Thank you for rousing me," he replied. "I believe +I have been very rude; but really Miss Fairfax has done her hair +in so odd a way--so very odd a way--that I cannot keep my eyes +from her. I never saw any thing so outree!--Those curls!--This must +be a fancy of her own. I see nobody else looking like her!-- +I must go and ask her whether it is an Irish fashion. Shall I?-- +Yes, I will--I declare I will--and you shall see how she takes it;-- +whether she colours." + +He was gone immediately; and Emma soon saw him standing before Miss +Fairfax, and talking to her; but as to its effect on the young lady, +as he had improvidently placed himself exactly between them, exactly +in front of Miss Fairfax, she could absolutely distinguish nothing. + +Before he could return to his chair, it was taken by Mrs. Weston. + +"This is the luxury of a large party," said she:--"one can get +near every body, and say every thing. My dear Emma, I am longing +to talk to you. I have been making discoveries and forming plans, +just like yourself, and I must tell them while the idea is fresh. +Do you know how Miss Bates and her niece came here?" + +"How?--They were invited, were not they?" + +"Oh! yes--but how they were conveyed hither?--the manner of their coming?" + +"They walked, I conclude. How else could they come?" + +"Very true.--Well, a little while ago it occurred to me how very sad +it would be to have Jane Fairfax walking home again, late at night, +and cold as the nights are now. And as I looked at her, though I +never saw her appear to more advantage, it struck me that she +was heated, and would therefore be particularly liable to take cold. +Poor girl! I could not bear the idea of it; so, as soon as Mr. Weston +came into the room, and I could get at him, I spoke to him about +the carriage. You may guess how readily he came into my wishes; +and having his approbation, I made my way directly to Miss Bates, +to assure her that the carriage would be at her service before it took +us home; for I thought it would be making her comfortable at once. +Good soul! she was as grateful as possible, you may be sure. +`Nobody was ever so fortunate as herself!'--but with many, +many thanks--`there was no occasion to trouble us, for Mr. Knightley's +carriage had brought, and was to take them home again.' I was +quite surprized;--very glad, I am sure; but really quite surprized. +Such a very kind attention--and so thoughtful an attention!-- +the sort of thing that so few men would think of. And, in short, +from knowing his usual ways, I am very much inclined to think +that it was for their accommodation the carriage was used at all. +I do suspect he would not have had a pair of horses for himself, +and that it was only as an excuse for assisting them." + +"Very likely," said Emma--"nothing more likely. I know no man +more likely than Mr. Knightley to do the sort of thing--to do any +thing really good-natured, useful, considerate, or benevolent. +He is not a gallant man, but he is a very humane one; and this, +considering Jane Fairfax's ill-health, would appear a case +of humanity to him;--and for an act of unostentatious kindness, +there is nobody whom I would fix on more than on Mr. Knightley. +I know he had horses to-day--for we arrived together; and I laughed at +him about it, but he said not a word that could betray." + +"Well," said Mrs. Weston, smiling, "you give him credit for +more simple, disinterested benevolence in this instance than I do; +for while Miss Bates was speaking, a suspicion darted into my head, +and I have never been able to get it out again. The more I think +of it, the more probable it appears. In short, I have made a match +between Mr. Knightley and Jane Fairfax. See the consequence +of keeping you company!--What do you say to it?" + +"Mr. Knightley and Jane Fairfax!" exclaimed Emma. "Dear Mrs. Weston, +how could you think of such a thing?--Mr. Knightley!--Mr. Knightley +must not marry!--You would not have little Henry cut out from Donwell?-- +Oh! no, no, Henry must have Donwell. I cannot at all consent to +Mr. Knightley's marrying; and I am sure it is not at all likely. +I am amazed that you should think of such a thing." + +"My dear Emma, I have told you what led me to think of it. +I do not want the match--I do not want to injure dear little Henry-- +but the idea has been given me by circumstances; and if Mr. Knightley +really wished to marry, you would not have him refrain on Henry's +account, a boy of six years old, who knows nothing of the matter?" + +"Yes, I would. I could not bear to have Henry supplanted.-- +Mr. Knightley marry!--No, I have never had such an idea, and I +cannot adopt it now. And Jane Fairfax, too, of all women!" + +"Nay, she has always been a first favourite with him, as you +very well know." + +"But the imprudence of such a match!" + +"I am not speaking of its prudence; merely its probability." + +"I see no probability in it, unless you have any better foundation +than what you mention. His good-nature, his humanity, as I tell you, +would be quite enough to account for the horses. He has a great +regard for the Bateses, you know, independent of Jane Fairfax-- +and is always glad to shew them attention. My dear Mrs. Weston, +do not take to match-making. You do it very ill. Jane Fairfax mistress +of the Abbey!--Oh! no, no;--every feeling revolts. For his own sake, +I would not have him do so mad a thing." + +"Imprudent, if you please--but not mad. Excepting inequality of fortune, +and perhaps a little disparity of age, I can see nothing unsuitable." + +"But Mr. Knightley does not want to marry. I am sure he has not the +least idea of it. Do not put it into his head. Why should he marry?-- +He is as happy as possible by himself; with his farm, and his sheep, +and his library, and all the parish to manage; and he is extremely +fond of his brother's children. He has no occasion to marry, +either to fill up his time or his heart." + +"My dear Emma, as long as he thinks so, it is so; but if he really +loves Jane Fairfax--" + +"Nonsense! He does not care about Jane Fairfax. In the way +of love, I am sure he does not. He would do any good to her, +or her family; but--" + +"Well," said Mrs. Weston, laughing, "perhaps the greatest good he +could do them, would be to give Jane such a respectable home." + +"If it would be good to her, I am sure it would be evil to himself; +a very shameful and degrading connexion. How would he bear to have +Miss Bates belonging to him?--To have her haunting the Abbey, +and thanking him all day long for his great kindness in marrying Jane?-- +`So very kind and obliging!--But he always had been such a very +kind neighbour!' And then fly off, through half a sentence, +to her mother's old petticoat. `Not that it was such a very old +petticoat either--for still it would last a great while--and, indeed, +she must thankfully say that their petticoats were all very strong.'" + +"For shame, Emma! Do not mimic her. You divert me against +my conscience. And, upon my word, I do not think Mr. Knightley would +be much disturbed by Miss Bates. Little things do not irritate him. +She might talk on; and if he wanted to say any thing himself, he would +only talk louder, and drown her voice. But the question is not, +whether it would be a bad connexion for him, but whether he wishes it; +and I think he does. I have heard him speak, and so must you, +so very highly of Jane Fairfax! The interest he takes in her-- +his anxiety about her health--his concern that she should have no +happier prospect! I have heard him express himself so warmly on +those points!--Such an admirer of her performance on the pianoforte, +and of her voice! I have heard him say that he could listen to her +for ever. Oh! and I had almost forgotten one idea that occurred +to me--this pianoforte that has been sent here by somebody-- +though we have all been so well satisfied to consider it a present +from the Campbells, may it not be from Mr. Knightley? I cannot +help suspecting him. I think he is just the person to do it, +even without being in love." + +"Then it can be no argument to prove that he is in love. +But I do not think it is at all a likely thing for him to do. +Mr. Knightley does nothing mysteriously." + +"I have heard him lamenting her having no instrument repeatedly; +oftener than I should suppose such a circumstance would, in the common +course of things, occur to him." + +"Very well; and if he had intended to give her one, he would have +told her so." + +"There might be scruples of delicacy, my dear Emma. I have a very +strong notion that it comes from him. I am sure he was particularly +silent when Mrs. Cole told us of it at dinner." + +"You take up an idea, Mrs. Weston, and run away with it; as you have +many a time reproached me with doing. I see no sign of attachment-- +I believe nothing of the pianoforte--and proof only shall convince +me that Mr. Knightley has any thought of marrying Jane Fairfax." + +They combated the point some time longer in the same way; Emma rather +gaining ground over the mind of her friend; for Mrs. Weston was +the most used of the two to yield; till a little bustle in the room +shewed them that tea was over, and the instrument in preparation;-- +and at the same moment Mr. Cole approaching to entreat Miss Woodhouse +would do them the honour of trying it. Frank Churchill, of whom, +in the eagerness of her conversation with Mrs. Weston, she had been +seeing nothing, except that he had found a seat by Miss Fairfax, +followed Mr. Cole, to add his very pressing entreaties; and as, +in every respect, it suited Emma best to lead, she gave a very +proper compliance. + +She knew the limitations of her own powers too well to attempt +more than she could perform with credit; she wanted neither taste +nor spirit in the little things which are generally acceptable, +and could accompany her own voice well. One accompaniment to her song +took her agreeably by surprize--a second, slightly but correctly +taken by Frank Churchill. Her pardon was duly begged at the close +of the song, and every thing usual followed. He was accused +of having a delightful voice, and a perfect knowledge of music; +which was properly denied; and that he knew nothing of the matter, +and had no voice at all, roundly asserted. They sang together +once more; and Emma would then resign her place to Miss Fairfax, +whose performance, both vocal and instrumental, she never could +attempt to conceal from herself, was infinitely superior to her own. + +With mixed feelings, she seated herself at a little distance from the +numbers round the instrument, to listen. Frank Churchill sang again. +They had sung together once or twice, it appeared, at Weymouth. +But the sight of Mr. Knightley among the most attentive, soon drew +away half Emma's mind; and she fell into a train of thinking +on the subject of Mrs. Weston's suspicions, to which the sweet +sounds of the united voices gave only momentary interruptions. +Her objections to Mr. Knightley's marrying did not in the least subside. +She could see nothing but evil in it. It would be a great +disappointment to Mr. John Knightley; consequently to Isabella. +A real injury to the children--a most mortifying change, +and material loss to them all;--a very great deduction from her +father's daily comfort--and, as to herself, she could not at all +endure the idea of Jane Fairfax at Donwell Abbey. A Mrs. Knightley +for them all to give way to!--No--Mr. Knightley must never marry. +Little Henry must remain the heir of Donwell. + +Presently Mr. Knightley looked back, and came and sat down by her. +They talked at first only of the performance. His admiration +was certainly very warm; yet she thought, but for Mrs. Weston, +it would not have struck her. As a sort of touchstone, however, +she began to speak of his kindness in conveying the aunt and niece; +and though his answer was in the spirit of cutting the matter short, +she believed it to indicate only his disinclination to dwell on any +kindness of his own. + +"I often feel concern," said she, "that I dare not make our carriage +more useful on such occasions. It is not that I am without the wish; +but you know how impossible my father would deem it that James +should put-to for such a purpose." + +"Quite out of the question, quite out of the question," he replied;-- +"but you must often wish it, I am sure." And he smiled with such +seeming pleasure at the conviction, that she must proceed another step. + +"This present from the Campbells," said she--"this pianoforte +is very kindly given." + +"Yes," he replied, and without the smallest apparent embarrassment.-- +"But they would have done better had they given her notice of it. +Surprizes are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the +inconvenience is often considerable. I should have expected better +judgment in Colonel Campbell." + +From that moment, Emma could have taken her oath that Mr. Knightley +had had no concern in giving the instrument. But whether he +were entirely free from peculiar attachment--whether there +were no actual preference--remained a little longer doubtful. +Towards the end of Jane's second song, her voice grew thick. + +"That will do," said he, when it was finished, thinking aloud-- +"you have sung quite enough for one evening--now be quiet." + +Another song, however, was soon begged for. "One more;--they would +not fatigue Miss Fairfax on any account, and would only ask for +one more." And Frank Churchill was heard to say, "I think you could +manage this without effort; the first part is so very trifling. +The strength of the song falls on the second." + +Mr. Knightley grew angry. + +"That fellow," said he, indignantly, "thinks of nothing but shewing +off his own voice. This must not be." And touching Miss Bates, +who at that moment passed near--"Miss Bates, are you mad, to let +your niece sing herself hoarse in this manner? Go, and interfere. +They have no mercy on her." + +Miss Bates, in her real anxiety for Jane, could hardly stay even +to be grateful, before she stept forward and put an end to all +farther singing. Here ceased the concert part of the evening, +for Miss Woodhouse and Miss Fairfax were the only young lady performers; +but soon (within five minutes) the proposal of dancing-- +originating nobody exactly knew where--was so effectually promoted +by Mr. and Mrs. Cole, that every thing was rapidly clearing away, +to give proper space. Mrs. Weston, capital in her country-dances, +was seated, and beginning an irresistible waltz; and Frank Churchill, +coming up with most becoming gallantry to Emma, had secured her hand, +and led her up to the top. + +While waiting till the other young people could pair themselves off, +Emma found time, in spite of the compliments she was receiving on her +voice and her taste, to look about, and see what became of Mr. Knightley. +This would be a trial. He was no dancer in general. If he were to be +very alert in engaging Jane Fairfax now, it might augur something. +There was no immediate appearance. No; he was talking to Mrs. Cole-- +he was looking on unconcerned; Jane was asked by somebody else, +and he was still talking to Mrs. Cole. + +Emma had no longer an alarm for Henry; his interest was yet safe; +and she led off the dance with genuine spirit and enjoyment. +Not more than five couple could be mustered; but the rarity and the +suddenness of it made it very delightful, and she found herself well +matched in a partner. They were a couple worth looking at. + +Two dances, unfortunately, were all that could be allowed. +It was growing late, and Miss Bates became anxious to get home, +on her mother's account. After some attempts, therefore, to be +permitted to begin again, they were obliged to thank Mrs. Weston, +look sorrowful, and have done. + +"Perhaps it is as well," said Frank Churchill, as he attended Emma +to her carriage. "I must have asked Miss Fairfax, and her languid +dancing would not have agreed with me, after your's." + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Emma did not repent her condescension in going to the Coles. +The visit afforded her many pleasant recollections the next day; +and all that she might be supposed to have lost on the side +of dignified seclusion, must be amply repaid in the splendour +of popularity. She must have delighted the Coles--worthy people, +who deserved to be made happy!--And left a name behind her that would +not soon die away. + +Perfect happiness, even in memory, is not common; and there were +two points on which she was not quite easy. She doubted whether +she had not transgressed the duty of woman by woman, in betraying +her suspicions of Jane Fairfax's feelings to Frank Churchill. +It was hardly right; but it had been so strong an idea, that it +would escape her, and his submission to all that she told, +was a compliment to her penetration, which made it difficult +for her to be quite certain that she ought to have held her tongue. + +The other circumstance of regret related also to Jane Fairfax; +and there she had no doubt. She did unfeignedly and unequivocally +regret the inferiority of her own playing and singing. She did +most heartily grieve over the idleness of her childhood--and sat +down and practised vigorously an hour and a half. + +She was then interrupted by Harriet's coming in; and if Harriet's +praise could have satisfied her, she might soon have been comforted. + +"Oh! if I could but play as well as you and Miss Fairfax!" + +"Don't class us together, Harriet. My playing is no more like +her's, than a lamp is like sunshine." + +"Oh! dear--I think you play the best of the two. I think you play +quite as well as she does. I am sure I had much rather hear you. +Every body last night said how well you played." + +"Those who knew any thing about it, must have felt the difference. +The truth is, Harriet, that my playing is just good enough to be praised, +but Jane Fairfax's is much beyond it." + +"Well, I always shall think that you play quite as well as she does, +or that if there is any difference nobody would ever find it out. +Mr. Cole said how much taste you had; and Mr. Frank Churchill talked +a great deal about your taste, and that he valued taste much more +than execution." + +"Ah! but Jane Fairfax has them both, Harriet." + +"Are you sure? I saw she had execution, but I did not know she had +any taste. Nobody talked about it. And I hate Italian singing.-- +There is no understanding a word of it. Besides, if she does play +so very well, you know, it is no more than she is obliged to do, +because she will have to teach. The Coxes were wondering last night +whether she would get into any great family. How did you think the +Coxes looked?" + +"Just as they always do--very vulgar." + +"They told me something," said Harriet rather hesitatingly;" +but it is nothing of any consequence." + +Emma was obliged to ask what they had told her, though fearful +of its producing Mr. Elton. + +"They told me--that Mr. Martin dined with them last Saturday." + +"Oh!" + +"He came to their father upon some business, and he asked him +to stay to dinner." + +"Oh!" + +"They talked a great deal about him, especially Anne Cox. +I do not know what she meant, but she asked me if I thought I +should go and stay there again next summer." + +"She meant to be impertinently curious, just as such an Anne Cox +should be." + +"She said he was very agreeable the day he dined there. He sat +by her at dinner. Miss Nash thinks either of the Coxes would +be very glad to marry him." + +"Very likely.--I think they are, without exception, the most vulgar +girls in Highbury." + +Harriet had business at Ford's.--Emma thought it most prudent to go +with her. Another accidental meeting with the Martins was possible, +and in her present state, would be dangerous. + +Harriet, tempted by every thing and swayed by half a word, was always +very long at a purchase; and while she was still hanging over muslins +and changing her mind, Emma went to the door for amusement.--Much could +not be hoped from the traffic of even the busiest part of Highbury;-- +Mr. Perry walking hastily by, Mr. William Cox letting himself in at +the office-door, Mr. Cole's carriage-horses returning from exercise, +or a stray letter-boy on an obstinate mule, were the liveliest +objects she could presume to expect; and when her eyes fell only on +the butcher with his tray, a tidy old woman travelling homewards from +shop with her full basket, two curs quarrelling over a dirty bone, +and a string of dawdling children round the baker's little bow-window +eyeing the gingerbread, she knew she had no reason to complain, +and was amused enough; quite enough still to stand at the door. +A mind lively and at ease, can do with seeing nothing, and can see +nothing that does not answer. + +She looked down the Randalls road. The scene enlarged; +two persons appeared; Mrs. Weston and her son-in-law; they were +walking into Highbury;--to Hartfield of course. They were stopping, +however, in the first place at Mrs. Bates's; whose house was +a little nearer Randalls than Ford's; and had all but knocked, +when Emma caught their eye.--Immediately they crossed the road +and came forward to her; and the agreeableness of yesterday's +engagement seemed to give fresh pleasure to the present meeting. +Mrs. Weston informed her that she was going to call on the Bateses, +in order to hear the new instrument. + +"For my companion tells me," said she, "that I absolutely promised +Miss Bates last night, that I would come this morning. I was +not aware of it myself. I did not know that I had fixed a day, +but as he says I did, I am going now." + +"And while Mrs. Weston pays her visit, I may be allowed, I hope," +said Frank Churchill, "to join your party and wait for her at Hartfield-- +if you are going home." + +Mrs. Weston was disappointed. + +"I thought you meant to go with me. They would be very much pleased." + +"Me! I should be quite in the way. But, perhaps--I may be equally +in the way here. Miss Woodhouse looks as if she did not want me. +My aunt always sends me off when she is shopping. She says I fidget +her to death; and Miss Woodhouse looks as if she could almost say +the same. What am I to do?" + +"I am here on no business of my own," said Emma; "I am only waiting +for my friend. She will probably have soon done, and then we +shall go home. But you had better go with Mrs. Weston and hear +the instrument." + +"Well--if you advise it.--But (with a smile) if Colonel Campbell +should have employed a careless friend, and if it should prove +to have an indifferent tone--what shall I say? I shall be no +support to Mrs. Weston. She might do very well by herself. +A disagreeable truth would be palatable through her lips, but I +am the wretchedest being in the world at a civil falsehood." + +"I do not believe any such thing," replied Emma.--"I am persuaded +that you can be as insincere as your neighbours, when it is necessary; +but there is no reason to suppose the instrument is indifferent. +Quite otherwise indeed, if I understood Miss Fairfax's opinion +last night." + +"Do come with me," said Mrs. Weston, "if it be not very disagreeable +to you. It need not detain us long. We will go to Hartfield afterwards. +We will follow them to Hartfield. I really wish you to call with me. +It will be felt so great an attention! and I always thought you +meant it." + +He could say no more; and with the hope of Hartfield to reward him, +returned with Mrs. Weston to Mrs. Bates's door. Emma watched them in, +and then joined Harriet at the interesting counter,--trying, with all +the force of her own mind, to convince her that if she wanted plain +muslin it was of no use to look at figured; and that a blue ribbon, +be it ever so beautiful, would still never match her yellow pattern. +At last it was all settled, even to the destination of the parcel. + +"Should I send it to Mrs. Goddard's, ma'am?" asked Mrs. Ford.-- +"Yes--no--yes, to Mrs. Goddard's. Only my pattern gown is +at Hartfield. No, you shall send it to Hartfield, if you please. +But then, Mrs. Goddard will want to see it.--And I could take the +pattern gown home any day. But I shall want the ribbon directly-- +so it had better go to Hartfield--at least the ribbon. You could +make it into two parcels, Mrs. Ford, could not you?" + +"It is not worth while, Harriet, to give Mrs. Ford the trouble +of two parcels." + +"No more it is." + +"No trouble in the world, ma'am," said the obliging Mrs. Ford. + +"Oh! but indeed I would much rather have it only in one. +Then, if you please, you shall send it all to Mrs. Goddard's-- +I do not know--No, I think, Miss Woodhouse, I may just as well +have it sent to Hartfield, and take it home with me at night. +What do you advise?" + +"That you do not give another half-second to the subject. +To Hartfield, if you please, Mrs. Ford." + +"Aye, that will be much best," said Harriet, quite satisfied, +"I should not at all like to have it sent to Mrs. Goddard's." + +Voices approached the shop--or rather one voice and two ladies: +Mrs. Weston and Miss Bates met them at the door. + +"My dear Miss Woodhouse," said the latter, "I am just run across to +entreat the favour of you to come and sit down with us a little while, +and give us your opinion of our new instrument; you and Miss Smith. +How do you do, Miss Smith?--Very well I thank you.--And I begged +Mrs. Weston to come with me, that I might be sure of succeeding." + +"I hope Mrs. Bates and Miss Fairfax are--" + +"Very well, I am much obliged to you. My mother is delightfully well; +and Jane caught no cold last night. How is Mr. Woodhouse?--I am so glad +to hear such a good account. Mrs. Weston told me you were here.-- +Oh! then, said I, I must run across, I am sure Miss Woodhouse will +allow me just to run across and entreat her to come in; my mother +will be so very happy to see her--and now we are such a nice party, +she cannot refuse.--`Aye, pray do,' said Mr. Frank Churchill, +`Miss Woodhouse's opinion of the instrument will be worth having.'-- +But, said I, I shall be more sure of succeeding if one of you will go +with me.--`Oh,' said he, `wait half a minute, till I have finished +my job;'--For, would you believe it, Miss Woodhouse, there he is, +in the most obliging manner in the world, fastening in the rivet of my +mother's spectacles.--The rivet came out, you know, this morning.-- +So very obliging!--For my mother had no use of her spectacles-- +could not put them on. And, by the bye, every body ought to have +two pair of spectacles; they should indeed. Jane said so. +I meant to take them over to John Saunders the first thing I did, +but something or other hindered me all the morning; first one thing, +then another, there is no saying what, you know. At one time Patty came +to say she thought the kitchen chimney wanted sweeping. Oh, said I, +Patty do not come with your bad news to me. Here is the rivet +of your mistress's spectacles out. Then the baked apples came home, +Mrs. Wallis sent them by her boy; they are extremely civil and +obliging to us, the Wallises, always--I have heard some people +say that Mrs. Wallis can be uncivil and give a very rude answer, +but we have never known any thing but the greatest attention +from them. And it cannot be for the value of our custom now, +for what is our consumption of bread, you know? Only three of us.-- +besides dear Jane at present--and she really eats nothing--makes such +a shocking breakfast, you would be quite frightened if you saw it. +I dare not let my mother know how little she eats--so I say one +thing and then I say another, and it passes off. But about the +middle of the day she gets hungry, and there is nothing she likes +so well as these baked apples, and they are extremely wholesome, +for I took the opportunity the other day of asking Mr. Perry; +I happened to meet him in the street. Not that I had any doubt before-- +I have so often heard Mr. Woodhouse recommend a baked apple. +I believe it is the only way that Mr. Woodhouse thinks the +fruit thoroughly wholesome. We have apple-dumplings, however, +very often. Patty makes an excellent apple-dumpling. Well, +Mrs. Weston, you have prevailed, I hope, and these ladies will +oblige us." + +Emma would be "very happy to wait on Mrs. Bates, &c.," and they +did at last move out of the shop, with no farther delay from Miss +Bates than, + +"How do you do, Mrs. Ford? I beg your pardon. I did not see +you before. I hear you have a charming collection of new ribbons +from town. Jane came back delighted yesterday. Thank ye, +the gloves do very well--only a little too large about the wrist; +but Jane is taking them in." + +"What was I talking of?" said she, beginning again when they were +all in the street. + +Emma wondered on what, of all the medley, she would fix. + +"I declare I cannot recollect what I was talking of.--Oh! my +mother's spectacles. So very obliging of Mr. Frank Churchill! +`Oh!' said he, `I do think I can fasten the rivet; I like a job +of this kind excessively.'--Which you know shewed him to be so +very. . . . Indeed I must say that, much as I had heard of him +before and much as I had expected, he very far exceeds any +thing. . . . I do congratulate you, Mrs. Weston, most warmly. +He seems every thing the fondest parent could. . . . `Oh!' said he, +`I can fasten the rivet. I like a job of that sort excessively.' +I never shall forget his manner. And when I brought out the baked +apples from the closet, and hoped our friends would be so very +obliging as to take some, `Oh!' said he directly, `there is nothing +in the way of fruit half so good, and these are the finest-looking +home-baked apples I ever saw in my life.' That, you know, was so +very. . . . And I am sure, by his manner, it was no compliment. +Indeed they are very delightful apples, and Mrs. Wallis does them +full justice--only we do not have them baked more than twice, +and Mr. Woodhouse made us promise to have them done three times-- +but Miss Woodhouse will be so good as not to mention it. The apples +themselves are the very finest sort for baking, beyond a doubt; +all from Donwell--some of Mr. Knightley's most liberal supply. +He sends us a sack every year; and certainly there never was such +a keeping apple anywhere as one of his trees--I believe there +is two of them. My mother says the orchard was always famous +in her younger days. But I was really quite shocked the other day-- +for Mr. Knightley called one morning, and Jane was eating these apples, +and we talked about them and said how much she enjoyed them, +and he asked whether we were not got to the end of our stock. +`I am sure you must be,' said he, `and I will send you +another supply; for I have a great many more than I can ever use. +William Larkins let me keep a larger quantity than usual this year. +I will send you some more, before they get good for nothing.' +So I begged he would not--for really as to ours being gone, I could +not absolutely say that we had a great many left--it was but half +a dozen indeed; but they should be all kept for Jane; and I could +not at all bear that he should be sending us more, so liberal as he +had been already; and Jane said the same. And when he was gone, +she almost quarrelled with me--No, I should not say quarrelled, +for we never had a quarrel in our lives; but she was quite distressed +that I had owned the apples were so nearly gone; she wished I had +made him believe we had a great many left. Oh, said I, my dear, +I did say as much as I could. However, the very same evening +William Larkins came over with a large basket of apples, the same +sort of apples, a bushel at least, and I was very much obliged, +and went down and spoke to William Larkins and said every thing, +as you may suppose. William Larkins is such an old acquaintance! +I am always glad to see him. But, however, I found afterwards +from Patty, that William said it was all the apples of _that_ sort +his master had; he had brought them all--and now his master had not +one left to bake or boil. William did not seem to mind it himself, +he was so pleased to think his master had sold so many; for William, +you know, thinks more of his master's profit than any thing; +but Mrs. Hodges, he said, was quite displeased at their being +all sent away. She could not bear that her master should not be +able to have another apple-tart this spring. He told Patty this, +but bid her not mind it, and be sure not to say any thing to us +about it, for Mrs. Hodges _would_ be cross sometimes, and as long as +so many sacks were sold, it did not signify who ate the remainder. +And so Patty told me, and I was excessively shocked indeed! +I would not have Mr. Knightley know any thing about it for +the world! He would be so very. . . . I wanted to keep it from +Jane's knowledge; but, unluckily, I had mentioned it before I was +aware." + +Miss Bates had just done as Patty opened the door; and her visitors +walked upstairs without having any regular narration to attend to, +pursued only by the sounds of her desultory good-will. + +"Pray take care, Mrs. Weston, there is a step at the turning. +Pray take care, Miss Woodhouse, ours is rather a dark staircase-- +rather darker and narrower than one could wish. Miss Smith, +pray take care. Miss Woodhouse, I am quite concerned, I am sure you +hit your foot. Miss Smith, the step at the turning." + + + +CHAPTER X + + +The appearance of the little sitting-room as they entered, +was tranquillity itself; Mrs. Bates, deprived of her usual employment, +slumbering on one side of the fire, Frank Churchill, at a table +near her, most deedily occupied about her spectacles, and Jane Fairfax, +standing with her back to them, intent on her pianoforte. + +Busy as he was, however, the young man was yet able to shew a most +happy countenance on seeing Emma again. + +"This is a pleasure," said he, in rather a low voice, "coming at +least ten minutes earlier than I had calculated. You find me +trying to be useful; tell me if you think I shall succeed." + +"What!" said Mrs. Weston, "have not you finished it yet? you would +not earn a very good livelihood as a working silversmith at this rate." + +"I have not been working uninterruptedly," he replied, "I have been +assisting Miss Fairfax in trying to make her instrument stand steadily, +it was not quite firm; an unevenness in the floor, I believe. +You see we have been wedging one leg with paper. This was very kind +of you to be persuaded to come. I was almost afraid you would be +hurrying home." + +He contrived that she should be seated by him; and was sufficiently +employed in looking out the best baked apple for her, and trying +to make her help or advise him in his work, till Jane Fairfax was +quite ready to sit down to the pianoforte again. That she was not +immediately ready, Emma did suspect to arise from the state of her nerves; +she had not yet possessed the instrument long enough to touch it +without emotion; she must reason herself into the power of performance; +and Emma could not but pity such feelings, whatever their origin, +and could not but resolve never to expose them to her neighbour again. + +At last Jane began, and though the first bars were feebly given, +the powers of the instrument were gradually done full justice to. +Mrs. Weston had been delighted before, and was delighted again; +Emma joined her in all her praise; and the pianoforte, with every +proper discrimination, was pronounced to be altogether of the +highest promise. + +"Whoever Colonel Campbell might employ," said Frank Churchill, +with a smile at Emma, "the person has not chosen ill. I heard a good +deal of Colonel Campbell's taste at Weymouth; and the softness of the +upper notes I am sure is exactly what he and _all_ _that_ _party_ would +particularly prize. I dare say, Miss Fairfax, that he either gave +his friend very minute directions, or wrote to Broadwood himself. +Do not you think so?" + +Jane did not look round. She was not obliged to hear. Mrs. Weston +had been speaking to her at the same moment. + +"It is not fair," said Emma, in a whisper; "mine was a random guess. +Do not distress her." + +He shook his head with a smile, and looked as if he had very little +doubt and very little mercy. Soon afterwards he began again, + +"How much your friends in Ireland must be enjoying your pleasure +on this occasion, Miss Fairfax. I dare say they often think of you, +and wonder which will be the day, the precise day of the instrument's +coming to hand. Do you imagine Colonel Campbell knows the business +to be going forward just at this time?--Do you imagine it to be +the consequence of an immediate commission from him, or that he may +have sent only a general direction, an order indefinite as to time, +to depend upon contingencies and conveniences?" + +He paused. She could not but hear; she could not avoid answering, + +"Till I have a letter from Colonel Campbell," said she, in a voice +of forced calmness, "I can imagine nothing with any confidence. +It must be all conjecture." + +"Conjecture--aye, sometimes one conjectures right, and sometimes +one conjectures wrong. I wish I could conjecture how soon I shall +make this rivet quite firm. What nonsense one talks, Miss Woodhouse, +when hard at work, if one talks at all;--your real workmen, +I suppose, hold their tongues; but we gentlemen labourers if we get +hold of a word--Miss Fairfax said something about conjecturing. +There, it is done. I have the pleasure, madam, (to Mrs. Bates,) +of restoring your spectacles, healed for the present." + +He was very warmly thanked both by mother and daughter; to escape +a little from the latter, he went to the pianoforte, and begged +Miss Fairfax, who was still sitting at it, to play something more. + +"If you are very kind," said he, "it will be one of the waltzes +we danced last night;--let me live them over again. You did not +enjoy them as I did; you appeared tired the whole time. I believe +you were glad we danced no longer; but I would have given worlds-- +all the worlds one ever has to give--for another half-hour." + +She played. + +"What felicity it is to hear a tune again which _has_ made one happy!-- +If I mistake not that was danced at Weymouth." + +She looked up at him for a moment, coloured deeply, and played +something else. He took some music from a chair near the pianoforte, +and turning to Emma, said, + +"Here is something quite new to me. Do you know it?--Cramer.-- +And here are a new set of Irish melodies. That, from such a quarter, +one might expect. This was all sent with the instrument. Very thoughtful +of Colonel Campbell, was not it?--He knew Miss Fairfax could have +no music here. I honour that part of the attention particularly; +it shews it to have been so thoroughly from the heart. Nothing hastily +done; nothing incomplete. True affection only could have prompted it." + +Emma wished he would be less pointed, yet could not help being amused; +and when on glancing her eye towards Jane Fairfax she caught +the remains of a smile, when she saw that with all the deep blush +of consciousness, there had been a smile of secret delight, +she had less scruple in the amusement, and much less compunction +with respect to her.--This amiable, upright, perfect Jane Fairfax +was apparently cherishing very reprehensible feelings. + +He brought all the music to her, and they looked it over together.-- +Emma took the opportunity of whispering, + +"You speak too plain. She must understand you." + +"I hope she does. I would have her understand me. I am not +in the least ashamed of my meaning." + +"But really, I am half ashamed, and wish I had never taken up +the idea." + +"I am very glad you did, and that you communicated it to me. +I have now a key to all her odd looks and ways. Leave shame to her. +If she does wrong, she ought to feel it." + +"She is not entirely without it, I think." + +"I do not see much sign of it. She is playing _Robin_ _Adair_ +at this moment--_his_ favourite." + +Shortly afterwards Miss Bates, passing near the window, +descried Mr. Knightley on horse-back not far off. + +"Mr. Knightley I declare!--I must speak to him if possible, +just to thank him. I will not open the window here; it would give +you all cold; but I can go into my mother's room you know. I dare +say he will come in when he knows who is here. Quite delightful +to have you all meet so!--Our little room so honoured!" + +She was in the adjoining chamber while she still spoke, and opening +the casement there, immediately called Mr. Knightley's attention, +and every syllable of their conversation was as distinctly heard +by the others, as if it had passed within the same apartment. + +"How d' ye do?--how d'ye do?--Very well, I thank you. So obliged +to you for the carriage last night. We were just in time; +my mother just ready for us. Pray come in; do come in. You will +find some friends here." + +So began Miss Bates; and Mr. Knightley seemed determined to be heard +in his turn, for most resolutely and commandingly did he say, + +"How is your niece, Miss Bates?--I want to inquire after you all, +but particularly your niece. How is Miss Fairfax?--I hope she +caught no cold last night. How is she to-day? Tell me how Miss +Fairfax is." + +And Miss Bates was obliged to give a direct answer before he +would hear her in any thing else. The listeners were amused; +and Mrs. Weston gave Emma a look of particular meaning. But Emma +still shook her head in steady scepticism. + +"So obliged to you!--so very much obliged to you for the carriage," +resumed Miss Bates. + +He cut her short with, + +"I am going to Kingston. Can I do any thing for you?" + +"Oh! dear, Kingston--are you?--Mrs. Cole was saying the other day +she wanted something from Kingston." + +"Mrs. Cole has servants to send. Can I do any thing for _you_?" + +"No, I thank you. But do come in. Who do you think is here?-- +Miss Woodhouse and Miss Smith; so kind as to call to hear the +new pianoforte. Do put up your horse at the Crown, and come in." + +"Well," said he, in a deliberating manner, "for five minutes, perhaps." + +"And here is Mrs. Weston and Mr. Frank Churchill too!--Quite delightful; +so many friends!" + +"No, not now, I thank you. I could not stay two minutes. +I must get on to Kingston as fast as I can." + +"Oh! do come in. They will be so very happy to see you." + +"No, no; your room is full enough. I will call another day, +and hear the pianoforte." + +"Well, I am so sorry!--Oh! Mr. Knightley, what a delightful party +last night; how extremely pleasant.--Did you ever see such dancing?-- +Was not it delightful?--Miss Woodhouse and Mr. Frank Churchill; +I never saw any thing equal to it." + +"Oh! very delightful indeed; I can say nothing less, for I suppose +Miss Woodhouse and Mr. Frank Churchill are hearing every thing +that passes. And (raising his voice still more) I do not see why Miss +Fairfax should not be mentioned too. I think Miss Fairfax dances +very well; and Mrs. Weston is the very best country-dance player, +without exception, in England. Now, if your friends have any gratitude, +they will say something pretty loud about you and me in return; +but I cannot stay to hear it." + +"Oh! Mr. Knightley, one moment more; something of consequence-- +so shocked!--Jane and I are both so shocked about the apples!" + +"What is the matter now?" + +"To think of your sending us all your store apples. You said you had +a great many, and now you have not one left. We really are so shocked! +Mrs. Hodges may well be angry. William Larkins mentioned it here. +You should not have done it, indeed you should not. Ah! he is off. +He never can bear to be thanked. But I thought he would have staid now, +and it would have been a pity not to have mentioned. . . . Well, +(returning to the room,) I have not been able to succeed. +Mr. Knightley cannot stop. He is going to Kingston. He asked me +if he could do any thing. . . ." + +"Yes," said Jane, "we heard his kind offers, we heard every thing." + +"Oh! yes, my dear, I dare say you might, because you know, the door +was open, and the window was open, and Mr. Knightley spoke loud. +You must have heard every thing to be sure. `Can I do any thing +for you at Kingston?' said he; so I just mentioned. . . . Oh! +Miss Woodhouse, must you be going?--You seem but just come--so very +obliging of you." + +Emma found it really time to be at home; the visit had already +lasted long; and on examining watches, so much of the morning was +perceived to be gone, that Mrs. Weston and her companion taking +leave also, could allow themselves only to walk with the two young +ladies to Hartfield gates, before they set off for Randalls. + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +It may be possible to do without dancing entirely. Instances have +been known of young people passing many, many months successively, +without being at any ball of any description, and no material injury +accrue either to body or mind;--but when a beginning is made-- +when the felicities of rapid motion have once been, though slightly, +felt--it must be a very heavy set that does not ask for more. + +Frank Churchill had danced once at Highbury, and longed to dance again; +and the last half-hour of an evening which Mr. Woodhouse was persuaded +to spend with his daughter at Randalls, was passed by the two young +people in schemes on the subject. Frank's was the first idea; +and his the greatest zeal in pursuing it; for the lady was the best +judge of the difficulties, and the most solicitous for accommodation +and appearance. But still she had inclination enough for shewing +people again how delightfully Mr. Frank Churchill and Miss +Woodhouse danced--for doing that in which she need not blush to compare +herself with Jane Fairfax--and even for simple dancing itself, +without any of the wicked aids of vanity--to assist him first +in pacing out the room they were in to see what it could be made +to hold--and then in taking the dimensions of the other parlour, +in the hope of discovering, in spite of all that Mr. Weston could +say of their exactly equal size, that it was a little the largest. + +His first proposition and request, that the dance begun at Mr. Cole's +should be finished there--that the same party should be collected, +and the same musician engaged, met with the readiest acquiescence. +Mr. Weston entered into the idea with thorough enjoyment, +and Mrs. Weston most willingly undertook to play as long as they +could wish to dance; and the interesting employment had followed, +of reckoning up exactly who there would be, and portioning out the +indispensable division of space to every couple. + +"You and Miss Smith, and Miss Fairfax, will be three, and the two +Miss Coxes five," had been repeated many times over. "And there +will be the two Gilberts, young Cox, my father, and myself, +besides Mr. Knightley. Yes, that will be quite enough for pleasure. +You and Miss Smith, and Miss Fairfax, will be three, and the two Miss +Coxes five; and for five couple there will be plenty of room." + +But soon it came to be on one side, + +"But will there be good room for five couple?--I really do not think +there will." + +On another, + +"And after all, five couple are not enough to make it worth +while to stand up. Five couple are nothing, when one thinks +seriously about it. It will not do to _invite_ five couple. +It can be allowable only as the thought of the moment." + +Somebody said that _Miss_ Gilbert was expected at her brother's, +and must be invited with the rest. Somebody else believed +_Mrs_. Gilbert would have danced the other evening, if she had +been asked. A word was put in for a second young Cox; and at last, +Mr. Weston naming one family of cousins who must be included, +and another of very old acquaintance who could not be left out, +it became a certainty that the five couple would be at least ten, +and a very interesting speculation in what possible manner they +could be disposed of. + +The doors of the two rooms were just opposite each other. +"Might not they use both rooms, and dance across the passage?" +It seemed the best scheme; and yet it was not so good but that +many of them wanted a better. Emma said it would be awkward; +Mrs. Weston was in distress about the supper; and Mr. Woodhouse +opposed it earnestly, on the score of health. It made him so +very unhappy, indeed, that it could not be persevered in. + +"Oh! no," said he; "it would be the extreme of imprudence. +I could not bear it for Emma!--Emma is not strong. She would +catch a dreadful cold. So would poor little Harriet. +So you would all. Mrs. Weston, you would be quite laid up; +do not let them talk of such a wild thing. Pray do not let them +talk of it. That young man (speaking lower) is very thoughtless. +Do not tell his father, but that young man is not quite the thing. +He has been opening the doors very often this evening, and keeping +them open very inconsiderately. He does not think of the draught. +I do not mean to set you against him, but indeed he is not quite +the thing!" + +Mrs. Weston was sorry for such a charge. She knew the importance +of it, and said every thing in her power to do it away. Every door +was now closed, the passage plan given up, and the first scheme +of dancing only in the room they were in resorted to again; +and with such good-will on Frank Churchill's part, that the space +which a quarter of an hour before had been deemed barely sufficient +for five couple, was now endeavoured to be made out quite enough +for ten. + +"We were too magnificent," said he. "We allowed unnecessary room. +Ten couple may stand here very well." + +Emma demurred. "It would be a crowd--a sad crowd; and what could +be worse than dancing without space to turn in?" + +"Very true," he gravely replied; "it was very bad." But still he +went on measuring, and still he ended with, + +"I think there will be very tolerable room for ten couple." + +"No, no," said she, "you are quite unreasonable. It would be dreadful +to be standing so close! Nothing can be farther from pleasure +than to be dancing in a crowd--and a crowd in a little room!" + +"There is no denying it," he replied. "I agree with you exactly. +A crowd in a little room--Miss Woodhouse, you have the art of giving +pictures in a few words. Exquisite, quite exquisite!--Still, however, +having proceeded so far, one is unwilling to give the matter up. +It would be a disappointment to my father--and altogether--I do +not know that--I am rather of opinion that ten couple might stand +here very well." + +Emma perceived that the nature of his gallantry was a little +self-willed, and that he would rather oppose than lose the pleasure +of dancing with her; but she took the compliment, and forgave +the rest. Had she intended ever to _marry_ him, it might have been +worth while to pause and consider, and try to understand the value +of his preference, and the character of his temper; but for +all the purposes of their acquaintance, he was quite amiable enough. + +Before the middle of the next day, he was at Hartfield; and he entered +the room with such an agreeable smile as certified the continuance +of the scheme. It soon appeared that he came to announce an improvement. + +"Well, Miss Woodhouse," he almost immediately began, "your inclination +for dancing has not been quite frightened away, I hope, by the +terrors of my father's little rooms. I bring a new proposal +on the subject:--a thought of my father's, which waits only your +approbation to be acted upon. May I hope for the honour of your +hand for the two first dances of this little projected ball, +to be given, not at Randalls, but at the Crown Inn?" + +"The Crown!" + +"Yes; if you and Mr. Woodhouse see no objection, and I trust you cannot, +my father hopes his friends will be so kind as to visit him there. +Better accommodations, he can promise them, and not a less grateful +welcome than at Randalls. It is his own idea. Mrs. Weston sees +no objection to it, provided you are satisfied. This is what we +all feel. Oh! you were perfectly right! Ten couple, in either of +the Randalls rooms, would have been insufferable!--Dreadful!--I felt +how right you were the whole time, but was too anxious for securing +_any_ _thing_ to like to yield. Is not it a good exchange?--You consent-- +I hope you consent?" + +"It appears to me a plan that nobody can object to, if Mr. and +Mrs. Weston do not. I think it admirable; and, as far as I can +answer for myself, shall be most happy--It seems the only improvement +that could be. Papa, do you not think it an excellent improvement?" + +She was obliged to repeat and explain it, before it was fully +comprehended; and then, being quite new, farther representations +were necessary to make it acceptable. + +"No; he thought it very far from an improvement--a very bad plan-- +much worse than the other. A room at an inn was always damp +and dangerous; never properly aired, or fit to be inhabited. +If they must dance, they had better dance at Randalls. He had never +been in the room at the Crown in his life--did not know the people +who kept it by sight.--Oh! no--a very bad plan. They would catch +worse colds at the Crown than anywhere." + +"I was going to observe, sir," said Frank Churchill, +"that one of the great recommendations of this change would +be the very little danger of any body's catching cold-- +so much less danger at the Crown than at Randalls! Mr. Perry +might have reason to regret the alteration, but nobody else could." + +"Sir," said Mr. Woodhouse, rather warmly, "you are very much +mistaken if you suppose Mr. Perry to be that sort of character. +Mr. Perry is extremely concerned when any of us are ill. But I +do not understand how the room at the Crown can be safer for you +than your father's house." + +"From the very circumstance of its being larger, sir. We shall have +no occasion to open the windows at all--not once the whole evening; +and it is that dreadful habit of opening the windows, letting in cold +air upon heated bodies, which (as you well know, sir) does the mischief." + +"Open the windows!--but surely, Mr. Churchill, nobody would think +of opening the windows at Randalls. Nobody could be so imprudent! +I never heard of such a thing. Dancing with open windows!--I am sure, +neither your father nor Mrs. Weston (poor Miss Taylor that was) +would suffer it." + +"Ah! sir--but a thoughtless young person will sometimes step behind +a window-curtain, and throw up a sash, without its being suspected. +I have often known it done myself." + +"Have you indeed, sir?--Bless me! I never could have supposed it. +But I live out of the world, and am often astonished at what I hear. +However, this does make a difference; and, perhaps, when we come +to talk it over--but these sort of things require a good deal +of consideration. One cannot resolve upon them in a hurry. +If Mr. and Mrs. Weston will be so obliging as to call here one morning, +we may talk it over, and see what can be done." + +"But, unfortunately, sir, my time is so limited--" + +"Oh!" interrupted Emma, "there will be plenty of time for talking +every thing over. There is no hurry at all. If it can be contrived +to be at the Crown, papa, it will be very convenient for the horses. +They will be so near their own stable." + +"So they will, my dear. That is a great thing. Not that James +ever complains; but it is right to spare our horses when we can. +If I could be sure of the rooms being thoroughly aired--but is +Mrs. Stokes to be trusted? I doubt it. I do not know her, +even by sight." + +"I can answer for every thing of that nature, sir, because it will +be under Mrs. Weston's care. Mrs. Weston undertakes to direct +the whole." + +"There, papa!--Now you must be satisfied--Our own dear Mrs. Weston, +who is carefulness itself. Do not you remember what Mr. Perry said, +so many years ago, when I had the measles? `If _Miss_ _Taylor_ undertakes +to wrap Miss Emma up, you need not have any fears, sir.' How often +have I heard you speak of it as such a compliment to her!" + +"Aye, very true. Mr. Perry did say so. I shall never forget it. +Poor little Emma! You were very bad with the measles; that is, +you would have been very bad, but for Perry's great attention. +He came four times a day for a week. He said, from the first, +it was a very good sort--which was our great comfort; but the measles +are a dreadful complaint. I hope whenever poor Isabella's little ones +have the measles, she will send for Perry." + +"My father and Mrs. Weston are at the Crown at this moment," +said Frank Churchill, "examining the capabilities of the house. +I left them there and came on to Hartfield, impatient for your opinion, +and hoping you might be persuaded to join them and give your advice +on the spot. I was desired to say so from both. It would be the +greatest pleasure to them, if you could allow me to attend you there. +They can do nothing satisfactorily without you." + +Emma was most happy to be called to such a council; and her father, +engaging to think it all over while she was gone, the two young +people set off together without delay for the Crown. There were +Mr. and Mrs. Weston; delighted to see her and receive her approbation, +very busy and very happy in their different way; she, in some +little distress; and he, finding every thing perfect. + +"Emma," said she, "this paper is worse than I expected. +Look! in places you see it is dreadfully dirty; and the wainscot +is more yellow and forlorn than any thing I could have imagined." + +"My dear, you are too particular," said her husband. "What does +all that signify? You will see nothing of it by candlelight. +It will be as clean as Randalls by candlelight. We never see any +thing of it on our club-nights." + +The ladies here probably exchanged looks which meant, "Men never +know when things are dirty or not;" and the gentlemen perhaps +thought each to himself, "Women will have their little nonsenses +and needless cares." + +One perplexity, however, arose, which the gentlemen did not disdain. +It regarded a supper-room. At the time of the ballroom's being built, +suppers had not been in question; and a small card-room adjoining, +was the only addition. What was to be done? This card-room would +be wanted as a card-room now; or, if cards were conveniently voted +unnecessary by their four selves, still was it not too small for +any comfortable supper? Another room of much better size might be +secured for the purpose; but it was at the other end of the house, +and a long awkward passage must be gone through to get at it. +This made a difficulty. Mrs. Weston was afraid of draughts +for the young people in that passage; and neither Emma nor the +gentlemen could tolerate the prospect of being miserably crowded +at supper. + +Mrs. Weston proposed having no regular supper; merely sandwiches, +&c., set out in the little room; but that was scouted as a +wretched suggestion. A private dance, without sitting down to supper, +was pronounced an infamous fraud upon the rights of men and women; +and Mrs. Weston must not speak of it again. She then took another +line of expediency, and looking into the doubtful room, observed, + +"I do not think it _is_ so very small. We shall not be many, +you know." + +And Mr. Weston at the same time, walking briskly with long steps +through the passage, was calling out, + +"You talk a great deal of the length of this passage, my dear. +It is a mere nothing after all; and not the least draught from +the stairs." + +"I wish," said Mrs. Weston, "one could know which arrangement our +guests in general would like best. To do what would be most generally +pleasing must be our object--if one could but tell what that would be." + +"Yes, very true," cried Frank, "very true. You want your neighbours' +opinions. I do not wonder at you. If one could ascertain what the +chief of them--the Coles, for instance. They are not far off. +Shall I call upon them? Or Miss Bates? She is still nearer.-- +And I do not know whether Miss Bates is not as likely to understand +the inclinations of the rest of the people as any body. I think +we do want a larger council. Suppose I go and invite Miss Bates +to join us?" + +"Well--if you please," said Mrs. Weston rather hesitating, "if you +think she will be of any use." + +"You will get nothing to the purpose from Miss Bates," said Emma. +"She will be all delight and gratitude, but she will tell you nothing. +She will not even listen to your questions. I see no advantage in +consulting Miss Bates." + +"But she is so amusing, so extremely amusing! I am very fond +of hearing Miss Bates talk. And I need not bring the whole family, +you know." + +Here Mr. Weston joined them, and on hearing what was proposed, +gave it his decided approbation. + +"Aye, do, Frank.--Go and fetch Miss Bates, and let us end the matter +at once. She will enjoy the scheme, I am sure; and I do not know +a properer person for shewing us how to do away difficulties. +Fetch Miss Bates. We are growing a little too nice. She is +a standing lesson of how to be happy. But fetch them both. +Invite them both." + +"Both sir! Can the old lady?" . . . + +"The old lady! No, the young lady, to be sure. I shall think you +a great blockhead, Frank, if you bring the aunt without the niece." + +"Oh! I beg your pardon, sir. I did not immediately recollect. +Undoubtedly if you wish it, I will endeavour to persuade them both." +And away he ran. + +Long before he reappeared, attending the short, neat, brisk-moving aunt, +and her elegant niece,--Mrs. Weston, like a sweet-tempered +woman and a good wife, had examined the passage again, +and found the evils of it much less than she had supposed before-- +indeed very trifling; and here ended the difficulties of decision. +All the rest, in speculation at least, was perfectly smooth. +All the minor arrangements of table and chair, lights and music, +tea and supper, made themselves; or were left as mere trifles +to be settled at any time between Mrs. Weston and Mrs. Stokes.-- +Every body invited, was certainly to come; Frank had already written +to Enscombe to propose staying a few days beyond his fortnight, +which could not possibly be refused. And a delightful dance it was +to be. + +Most cordially, when Miss Bates arrived, did she agree that it must. +As a counsellor she was not wanted; but as an approver, (a much +safer character,) she was truly welcome. Her approbation, at once +general and minute, warm and incessant, could not but please; +and for another half-hour they were all walking to and fro, +between the different rooms, some suggesting, some attending, +and all in happy enjoyment of the future. The party did not break +up without Emma's being positively secured for the two first dances +by the hero of the evening, nor without her overhearing Mr. Weston +whisper to his wife, "He has asked her, my dear. That's right. +I knew he would!" + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +One thing only was wanting to make the prospect of the ball +completely satisfactory to Emma--its being fixed for a day within +the granted term of Frank Churchill's stay in Surry; for, in spite +of Mr. Weston's confidence, she could not think it so very impossible +that the Churchills might not allow their nephew to remain +a day beyond his fortnight. But this was not judged feasible. +The preparations must take their time, nothing could be properly +ready till the third week were entered on, and for a few days they +must be planning, proceeding and hoping in uncertainty--at the risk-- +in her opinion, the great risk, of its being all in vain. + +Enscombe however was gracious, gracious in fact, if not in word. +His wish of staying longer evidently did not please; but it was +not opposed. All was safe and prosperous; and as the removal of one +solicitude generally makes way for another, Emma, being now certain +of her ball, began to adopt as the next vexation Mr. Knightley's +provoking indifference about it. Either because he did not +dance himself, or because the plan had been formed without his +being consulted, he seemed resolved that it should not interest him, +determined against its exciting any present curiosity, or affording +him any future amusement. To her voluntary communications Emma +could get no more approving reply, than, + +"Very well. If the Westons think it worth while to be at all this +trouble for a few hours of noisy entertainment, I have nothing +to say against it, but that they shall not chuse pleasures for me.-- +Oh! yes, I must be there; I could not refuse; and I will keep +as much awake as I can; but I would rather be at home, looking over +William Larkins's week's account; much rather, I confess.-- +Pleasure in seeing dancing!--not I, indeed--I never look at it-- +I do not know who does.--Fine dancing, I believe, like virtue, +must be its own reward. Those who are standing by are usually +thinking of something very different." + +This Emma felt was aimed at her; and it made her quite angry. +It was not in compliment to Jane Fairfax however that he was +so indifferent, or so indignant; he was not guided by _her_ feelings +in reprobating the ball, for _she_ enjoyed the thought of it +to an extraordinary degree. It made her animated--open hearted-- +she voluntarily said;-- + +"Oh! Miss Woodhouse, I hope nothing may happen to prevent the ball. +What a disappointment it would be! I do look forward to it, I own, +with _very_ great pleasure." + +It was not to oblige Jane Fairfax therefore that he would have +preferred the society of William Larkins. No!--she was more and more +convinced that Mrs. Weston was quite mistaken in that surmise. +There was a great deal of friendly and of compassionate attachment +on his side--but no love. + +Alas! there was soon no leisure for quarrelling with Mr. Knightley. +Two days of joyful security were immediately followed by the +over-throw of every thing. A letter arrived from Mr. Churchill +to urge his nephew's instant return. Mrs. Churchill was unwell-- +far too unwell to do without him; she had been in a very suffering +state (so said her husband) when writing to her nephew two days before, +though from her usual unwillingness to give pain, and constant +habit of never thinking of herself, she had not mentioned it; +but now she was too ill to trifle, and must entreat him to set off +for Enscombe without delay. + +The substance of this letter was forwarded to Emma, in a note +from Mrs. Weston, instantly. As to his going, it was inevitable. +He must be gone within a few hours, though without feeling any real +alarm for his aunt, to lessen his repugnance. He knew her illnesses; +they never occurred but for her own convenience. + +Mrs. Weston added, "that he could only allow himself time to +hurry to Highbury, after breakfast, and take leave of the few +friends there whom he could suppose to feel any interest in him; +and that he might be expected at Hartfield very soon." + +This wretched note was the finale of Emma's breakfast. When once +it had been read, there was no doing any thing, but lament +and exclaim. The loss of the ball--the loss of the young man-- +and all that the young man might be feeling!--It was too wretched!-- +Such a delightful evening as it would have been!--Every body so happy! +and she and her partner the happiest!--"I said it would be so," +was the only consolation. + +Her father's feelings were quite distinct. He thought principally +of Mrs. Churchill's illness, and wanted to know how she was treated; +and as for the ball, it was shocking to have dear Emma disappointed; +but they would all be safer at home. + +Emma was ready for her visitor some time before he appeared; +but if this reflected at all upon his impatience, his sorrowful +look and total want of spirits when he did come might redeem him. +He felt the going away almost too much to speak of it. His dejection +was most evident. He sat really lost in thought for the first +few minutes; and when rousing himself, it was only to say, + +"Of all horrid things, leave-taking is the worst." + +"But you will come again," said Emma. "This will not be your only +visit to Randalls." + +"Ah!--(shaking his head)--the uncertainty of when I may be able +to return!--I shall try for it with a zeal!--It will be the object +of all my thoughts and cares!--and if my uncle and aunt go to town +this spring--but I am afraid--they did not stir last spring-- +I am afraid it is a custom gone for ever." + +"Our poor ball must be quite given up." + +"Ah! that ball!--why did we wait for any thing?--why not seize the +pleasure at once?--How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, +foolish preparation!--You told us it would be so.--Oh! Miss Woodhouse, +why are you always so right?" + +"Indeed, I am very sorry to be right in this instance. I would +much rather have been merry than wise." + +"If I can come again, we are still to have our ball. My father +depends on it. Do not forget your engagement." + +Emma looked graciously. + +"Such a fortnight as it has been!" he continued; "every day more +precious and more delightful than the day before!--every day making +me less fit to bear any other place. Happy those, who can remain +at Highbury!" + +"As you do us such ample justice now," said Emma, laughing, "I will +venture to ask, whether you did not come a little doubtfully at first? +Do not we rather surpass your expectations? I am sure we do. +I am sure you did not much expect to like us. You would not have been +so long in coming, if you had had a pleasant idea of Highbury." + +He laughed rather consciously; and though denying the sentiment, +Emma was convinced that it had been so. + +"And you must be off this very morning?" + +"Yes; my father is to join me here: we shall walk back together, +and I must be off immediately. I am almost afraid that every moment +will bring him." + +"Not five minutes to spare even for your friends Miss Fairfax and +Miss Bates? How unlucky! Miss Bates's powerful, argumentative mind +might have strengthened yours." + +"Yes--I _have_ called there; passing the door, I thought it better. +It was a right thing to do. I went in for three minutes, and was +detained by Miss Bates's being absent. She was out; and I felt it +impossible not to wait till she came in. She is a woman that one may, +that one _must_ laugh at; but that one would not wish to slight. +It was better to pay my visit, then"-- + +He hesitated, got up, walked to a window. + +"In short," said he, "perhaps, Miss Woodhouse--I think you can +hardly be quite without suspicion"-- + +He looked at her, as if wanting to read her thoughts. She hardly +knew what to say. It seemed like the forerunner of something +absolutely serious, which she did not wish. Forcing herself +to speak, therefore, in the hope of putting it by, she calmly said, + +"You are quite in the right; it was most natural to pay your visit, then"-- + +He was silent. She believed he was looking at her; probably reflecting +on what she had said, and trying to understand the manner. +She heard him sigh. It was natural for him to feel that he had +_cause_ to sigh. He could not believe her to be encouraging him. +A few awkward moments passed, and he sat down again; and in a more +determined manner said, + +"It was something to feel that all the rest of my time might be +given to Hartfield. My regard for Hartfield is most warm"-- + +He stopt again, rose again, and seemed quite embarrassed.-- +He was more in love with her than Emma had supposed; and who can say +how it might have ended, if his father had not made his appearance? +Mr. Woodhouse soon followed; and the necessity of exertion made +him composed. + +A very few minutes more, however, completed the present trial. +Mr. Weston, always alert when business was to be done, and as +incapable of procrastinating any evil that was inevitable, +as of foreseeing any that was doubtful, said, "It was time to go;" +and the young man, though he might and did sigh, could not but agree, +to take leave. + +"I shall hear about you all," said he; "that is my chief consolation. +I shall hear of every thing that is going on among you. I have +engaged Mrs. Weston to correspond with me. She has been so kind as +to promise it. Oh! the blessing of a female correspondent, when one +is really interested in the absent!--she will tell me every thing. +In her letters I shall be at dear Highbury again." + +A very friendly shake of the hand, a very earnest "Good-bye," +closed the speech, and the door had soon shut out Frank Churchill. +Short had been the notice--short their meeting; he was gone; and Emma +felt so sorry to part, and foresaw so great a loss to their little +society from his absence as to begin to be afraid of being too sorry, +and feeling it too much. + +It was a sad change. They had been meeting almost every day +since his arrival. Certainly his being at Randalls had given +great spirit to the last two weeks--indescribable spirit; the idea, +the expectation of seeing him which every morning had brought, +the assurance of his attentions, his liveliness, his manners! +It had been a very happy fortnight, and forlorn must be the sinking +from it into the common course of Hartfield days. To complete every +other recommendation, he had _almost_ told her that he loved her. +What strength, or what constancy of affection he might be subject to, +was another point; but at present she could not doubt his having +a decidedly warm admiration, a conscious preference of herself; +and this persuasion, joined to all the rest, made her think that +she _must_ be a little in love with him, in spite of every previous +determination against it. + +"I certainly must," said she. "This sensation of listlessness, +weariness, stupidity, this disinclination to sit down and employ myself, +this feeling of every thing's being dull and insipid about the house!-- +I must be in love; I should be the oddest creature in the world if I +were not--for a few weeks at least. Well! evil to some is always +good to others. I shall have many fellow-mourners for the ball, +if not for Frank Churchill; but Mr. Knightley will be happy. +He may spend the evening with his dear William Larkins now if he likes." + +Mr. Knightley, however, shewed no triumphant happiness. He could +not say that he was sorry on his own account; his very cheerful look +would have contradicted him if he had; but he said, and very steadily, +that he was sorry for the disappointment of the others, and with +considerable kindness added, + +"You, Emma, who have so few opportunities of dancing, you are really +out of luck; you are very much out of luck!" + +It was some days before she saw Jane Fairfax, to judge of her +honest regret in this woeful change; but when they did meet, +her composure was odious. She had been particularly unwell, however, +suffering from headache to a degree, which made her aunt declare, +that had the ball taken place, she did not think Jane could have +attended it; and it was charity to impute some of her unbecoming +indifference to the languor of ill-health. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +Emma continued to entertain no doubt of her being in love. Her ideas +only varied as to the how much. At first, she thought it was a good deal; +and afterwards, but little. She had great pleasure in hearing Frank +Churchill talked of; and, for his sake, greater pleasure than ever +in seeing Mr. and Mrs. Weston; she was very often thinking of him, +and quite impatient for a letter, that she might know how he was, +how were his spirits, how was his aunt, and what was the chance +of his coming to Randalls again this spring. But, on the other hand, +she could not admit herself to be unhappy, nor, after the +first morning, to be less disposed for employment than usual; +she was still busy and cheerful; and, pleasing as he was, she could +yet imagine him to have faults; and farther, though thinking of him +so much, and, as she sat drawing or working, forming a thousand +amusing schemes for the progress and close of their attachment, +fancying interesting dialogues, and inventing elegant letters; +the conclusion of every imaginary declaration on his side was that she +_refused_ _him_. Their affection was always to subside into friendship. +Every thing tender and charming was to mark their parting; +but still they were to part. When she became sensible of this, +it struck her that she could not be very much in love; for in spite +of her previous and fixed determination never to quit her father, +never to marry, a strong attachment certainly must produce more +of a struggle than she could foresee in her own feelings. + +"I do not find myself making any use of the word _sacrifice_," said she.-- +"In not one of all my clever replies, my delicate negatives, +is there any allusion to making a sacrifice. I do suspect that he +is not really necessary to my happiness. So much the better. +I certainly will not persuade myself to feel more than I do. I am +quite enough in love. I should be sorry to be more." + +Upon the whole, she was equally contented with her view of his feelings. + +"_He_ is undoubtedly very much in love--every thing denotes it--very much +in love indeed!--and when he comes again, if his affection continue, +I must be on my guard not to encourage it.--It would be most +inexcusable to do otherwise, as my own mind is quite made up. +Not that I imagine he can think I have been encouraging him hitherto. +No, if he had believed me at all to share his feelings, he would +not have been so wretched. Could he have thought himself encouraged, +his looks and language at parting would have been different.-- +Still, however, I must be on my guard. This is in the supposition +of his attachment continuing what it now is; but I do not know that I +expect it will; I do not look upon him to be quite the sort of man-- +I do not altogether build upon his steadiness or constancy.-- +His feelings are warm, but I can imagine them rather changeable.-- +Every consideration of the subject, in short, makes me thankful +that my happiness is not more deeply involved.--I shall do very well +again after a little while--and then, it will be a good thing over; +for they say every body is in love once in their lives, and I shall +have been let off easily." + +When his letter to Mrs. Weston arrived, Emma had the perusal of it; +and she read it with a degree of pleasure and admiration which made +her at first shake her head over her own sensations, and think she +had undervalued their strength. It was a long, well-written letter, +giving the particulars of his journey and of his feelings, +expressing all the affection, gratitude, and respect which was +natural and honourable, and describing every thing exterior and local +that could be supposed attractive, with spirit and precision. +No suspicious flourishes now of apology or concern; it was the +language of real feeling towards Mrs. Weston; and the transition +from Highbury to Enscombe, the contrast between the places in some +of the first blessings of social life was just enough touched on +to shew how keenly it was felt, and how much more might have been +said but for the restraints of propriety.--The charm of her own +name was not wanting. _Miss_ _Woodhouse_ appeared more than once, +and never without a something of pleasing connexion, either a +compliment to her taste, or a remembrance of what she had said; +and in the very last time of its meeting her eye, unadorned as it +was by any such broad wreath of gallantry, she yet could discern +the effect of her influence and acknowledge the greatest compliment +perhaps of all conveyed. Compressed into the very lowest vacant +corner were these words--"I had not a spare moment on Tuesday, +as you know, for Miss Woodhouse's beautiful little friend. Pray make +my excuses and adieus to her." This, Emma could not doubt, was all +for herself. Harriet was remembered only from being _her_ friend. +His information and prospects as to Enscombe were neither worse nor +better than had been anticipated; Mrs. Churchill was recovering, +and he dared not yet, even in his own imagination, fix a time for +coming to Randalls again. + +Gratifying, however, and stimulative as was the letter in the +material part, its sentiments, she yet found, when it was folded up +and returned to Mrs. Weston, that it had not added any lasting warmth, +that she could still do without the writer, and that he must learn +to do without her. Her intentions were unchanged. Her resolution +of refusal only grew more interesting by the addition of a scheme for +his subsequent consolation and happiness. His recollection of Harriet, +and the words which clothed it, the "beautiful little friend," +suggested to her the idea of Harriet's succeeding her in his affections. +Was it impossible?--No.--Harriet undoubtedly was greatly his +inferior in understanding; but he had been very much struck with +the loveliness of her face and the warm simplicity of her manner; +and all the probabilities of circumstance and connexion were in +her favour.--For Harriet, it would be advantageous and delightful indeed. + +"I must not dwell upon it," said she.--"I must not think of it. +I know the danger of indulging such speculations. But stranger +things have happened; and when we cease to care for each other +as we do now, it will be the means of confirming us in that sort +of true disinterested friendship which I can already look forward +to with pleasure." + +It was well to have a comfort in store on Harriet's behalf, +though it might be wise to let the fancy touch it seldom; for evil +in that quarter was at hand. As Frank Churchill's arrival had +succeeded Mr. Elton's engagement in the conversation of Highbury, +as the latest interest had entirely borne down the first, so now +upon Frank Churchill's disappearance, Mr. Elton's concerns were +assuming the most irresistible form.--His wedding-day was named. +He would soon be among them again; Mr. Elton and his bride. +There was hardly time to talk over the first letter from Enscombe +before "Mr. Elton and his bride" was in every body's mouth, +and Frank Churchill was forgotten. Emma grew sick at the sound. +She had had three weeks of happy exemption from Mr. Elton; +and Harriet's mind, she had been willing to hope, had been lately +gaining strength. With Mr. Weston's ball in view at least, +there had been a great deal of insensibility to other things; +but it was now too evident that she had not attained such a state +of composure as could stand against the actual approach--new carriage, +bell-ringing, and all. + +Poor Harriet was in a flutter of spirits which required all the +reasonings and soothings and attentions of every kind that Emma +could give. Emma felt that she could not do too much for her, +that Harriet had a right to all her ingenuity and all her patience; +but it was heavy work to be for ever convincing without producing +any effect, for ever agreed to, without being able to make their opinions +the same. Harriet listened submissively, and said "it was very true-- +it was just as Miss Woodhouse described--it was not worth while to +think about them--and she would not think about them any longer" +but no change of subject could avail, and the next half-hour +saw her as anxious and restless about the Eltons as before. +At last Emma attacked her on another ground. + +"Your allowing yourself to be so occupied and so unhappy about +Mr. Elton's marrying, Harriet, is the strongest reproach you can +make _me_. You could not give me a greater reproof for the mistake I +fell into. It was all my doing, I know. I have not forgotten it, +I assure you.--Deceived myself, I did very miserably deceive you-- +and it will be a painful reflection to me for ever. Do not imagine +me in danger of forgetting it." + +Harriet felt this too much to utter more than a few words +of eager exclamation. Emma continued, + +"I have not said, exert yourself Harriet for my sake; think less, +talk less of Mr. Elton for my sake; because for your own sake rather, +I would wish it to be done, for the sake of what is more important +than my comfort, a habit of self-command in you, a consideration +of what is your duty, an attention to propriety, an endeavour +to avoid the suspicions of others, to save your health and credit, +and restore your tranquillity. These are the motives which I +have been pressing on you. They are very important--and sorry +I am that you cannot feel them sufficiently to act upon them. +My being saved from pain is a very secondary consideration. I want +you to save yourself from greater pain. Perhaps I may sometimes +have felt that Harriet would not forget what was due--or rather +what would be kind by me." + +This appeal to her affections did more than all the rest. +The idea of wanting gratitude and consideration for Miss Woodhouse, +whom she really loved extremely, made her wretched for a while, +and when the violence of grief was comforted away, still remained +powerful enough to prompt to what was right and support her in it +very tolerably. + +"You, who have been the best friend I ever had in my life-- +Want gratitude to you!--Nobody is equal to you!--I care for nobody +as I do for you!--Oh! Miss Woodhouse, how ungrateful I have been!" + +Such expressions, assisted as they were by every thing that look +and manner could do, made Emma feel that she had never loved Harriet +so well, nor valued her affection so highly before. + +"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart," said she +afterwards to herself. "There is nothing to be compared to it. +Warmth and tenderness of heart, with an affectionate, open manner, +will beat all the clearness of head in the world, for attraction, +I am sure it will. It is tenderness of heart which makes my dear +father so generally beloved--which gives Isabella all her popularity.-- +I have it not--but I know how to prize and respect it.--Harriet is +my superior in all the charm and all the felicity it gives. +Dear Harriet!--I would not change you for the clearest-headed, +longest-sighted, best-judging female breathing. Oh! the coldness +of a Jane Fairfax!--Harriet is worth a hundred such--And for a wife-- +a sensible man's wife--it is invaluable. I mention no names; +but happy the man who changes Emma for Harriet!" + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +Mrs. Elton was first seen at church: but though devotion might +be interrupted, curiosity could not be satisfied by a bride in a pew, +and it must be left for the visits in form which were then to be paid, +to settle whether she were very pretty indeed, or only rather pretty, +or not pretty at all. + +Emma had feelings, less of curiosity than of pride or propriety, +to make her resolve on not being the last to pay her respects; +and she made a point of Harriet's going with her, that the worst of +the business might be gone through as soon as possible. + +She could not enter the house again, could not be in the same room +to which she had with such vain artifice retreated three months ago, +to lace up her boot, without _recollecting_. A thousand vexatious +thoughts would recur. Compliments, charades, and horrible blunders; +and it was not to be supposed that poor Harriet should not be +recollecting too; but she behaved very well, and was only rather +pale and silent. The visit was of course short; and there was so +much embarrassment and occupation of mind to shorten it, that Emma +would not allow herself entirely to form an opinion of the lady, +and on no account to give one, beyond the nothing-meaning terms +of being "elegantly dressed, and very pleasing." + +She did not really like her. She would not be in a hurry to find fault, +but she suspected that there was no elegance;--ease, but not elegance.-- +She was almost sure that for a young woman, a stranger, a bride, +there was too much ease. Her person was rather good; her face +not unpretty; but neither feature, nor air, nor voice, nor manner, +were elegant. Emma thought at least it would turn out so. + +As for Mr. Elton, his manners did not appear--but no, she would +not permit a hasty or a witty word from herself about his manners. +It was an awkward ceremony at any time to be receiving wedding visits, +and a man had need be all grace to acquit himself well through it. +The woman was better off; she might have the assistance of fine clothes, +and the privilege of bashfulness, but the man had only his own +good sense to depend on; and when she considered how peculiarly +unlucky poor Mr. Elton was in being in the same room at once with +the woman he had just married, the woman he had wanted to marry, +and the woman whom he had been expected to marry, she must allow him +to have the right to look as little wise, and to be as much affectedly, +and as little really easy as could be. + +"Well, Miss Woodhouse," said Harriet, when they had quitted +the house, and after waiting in vain for her friend to begin; +"Well, Miss Woodhouse, (with a gentle sigh,) what do you think of her?-- +Is not she very charming?" + +There was a little hesitation in Emma's answer. + +"Oh! yes--very--a very pleasing young woman." + +"I think her beautiful, quite beautiful." + +"Very nicely dressed, indeed; a remarkably elegant gown." + +"I am not at all surprized that he should have fallen in love." + +"Oh! no--there is nothing to surprize one at all.--A pretty fortune; +and she came in his way." + +"I dare say," returned Harriet, sighing again, "I dare say she +was very much attached to him." + +"Perhaps she might; but it is not every man's fate to marry the +woman who loves him best. Miss Hawkins perhaps wanted a home, +and thought this the best offer she was likely to have." + +"Yes," said Harriet earnestly, "and well she might, nobody could ever +have a better. Well, I wish them happy with all my heart. And now, +Miss Woodhouse, I do not think I shall mind seeing them again. +He is just as superior as ever;--but being married, you know, +it is quite a different thing. No, indeed, Miss Woodhouse, you need +not be afraid; I can sit and admire him now without any great misery. +To know that he has not thrown himself away, is such a comfort!-- +She does seem a charming young woman, just what he deserves. +Happy creature! He called her `Augusta.' How delightful!" + +When the visit was returned, Emma made up her mind. She could then +see more and judge better. From Harriet's happening not to be +at Hartfield, and her father's being present to engage Mr. Elton, +she had a quarter of an hour of the lady's conversation to herself, +and could composedly attend to her; and the quarter of an hour quite +convinced her that Mrs. Elton was a vain woman, extremely well +satisfied with herself, and thinking much of her own importance; +that she meant to shine and be very superior, but with manners which +had been formed in a bad school, pert and familiar; that all her +notions were drawn from one set of people, and one style of living; +that if not foolish she was ignorant, and that her society would +certainly do Mr. Elton no good. + +Harriet would have been a better match. If not wise or refined herself, +she would have connected him with those who were; but Miss Hawkins, +it might be fairly supposed from her easy conceit, had been the best +of her own set. The rich brother-in-law near Bristol was the pride +of the alliance, and his place and his carriages were the pride +of him. + +The very first subject after being seated was Maple Grove, "My brother +Mr. Suckling's seat;"--a comparison of Hartfield to Maple Grove. +The grounds of Hartfield were small, but neat and pretty; and the +house was modern and well-built. Mrs. Elton seemed most favourably +impressed by the size of the room, the entrance, and all that she +could see or imagine. "Very like Maple Grove indeed!--She was quite +struck by the likeness!--That room was the very shape and size +of the morning-room at Maple Grove; her sister's favourite room."-- +Mr. Elton was appealed to.--"Was not it astonishingly like?-- +She could really almost fancy herself at Maple Grove." + +"And the staircase--You know, as I came in, I observed how very like +the staircase was; placed exactly in the same part of the house. +I really could not help exclaiming! I assure you, Miss Woodhouse, +it is very delightful to me, to be reminded of a place I am so +extremely partial to as Maple Grove. I have spent so many happy +months there! (with a little sigh of sentiment). A charming place, +undoubtedly. Every body who sees it is struck by its beauty; +but to me, it has been quite a home. Whenever you are transplanted, +like me, Miss Woodhouse, you will understand how very delightful it +is to meet with any thing at all like what one has left behind. +I always say this is quite one of the evils of matrimony." + +Emma made as slight a reply as she could; but it was fully sufficient +for Mrs. Elton, who only wanted to be talking herself. + +"So extremely like Maple Grove! And it is not merely the house-- +the grounds, I assure you, as far as I could observe, are strikingly +like. The laurels at Maple Grove are in the same profusion as here, +and stand very much in the same way--just across the lawn; +and I had a glimpse of a fine large tree, with a bench round it, +which put me so exactly in mind! My brother and sister will be +enchanted with this place. People who have extensive grounds +themselves are always pleased with any thing in the same style." + +Emma doubted the truth of this sentiment. She had a great idea +that people who had extensive grounds themselves cared very little +for the extensive grounds of any body else; but it was not worth +while to attack an error so double-dyed, and therefore only said +in reply, + +"When you have seen more of this country, I am afraid you will think +you have overrated Hartfield. Surry is full of beauties." + +"Oh! yes, I am quite aware of that. It is the garden of England, +you know. Surry is the garden of England." + +"Yes; but we must not rest our claims on that distinction. +Many counties, I believe, are called the garden of England, +as well as Surry." + +"No, I fancy not," replied Mrs. Elton, with a most satisfied smile." +I never heard any county but Surry called so." + +Emma was silenced. + +"My brother and sister have promised us a visit in the spring, +or summer at farthest," continued Mrs. Elton; "and that will be +our time for exploring. While they are with us, we shall explore +a great deal, I dare say. They will have their barouche-landau, +of course, which holds four perfectly; and therefore, without saying +any thing of _our_ carriage, we should be able to explore the different +beauties extremely well. They would hardly come in their chaise, +I think, at that season of the year. Indeed, when the time draws on, +I shall decidedly recommend their bringing the barouche-landau; +it will be so very much preferable. When people come into a beautiful +country of this sort, you know, Miss Woodhouse, one naturally wishes +them to see as much as possible; and Mr. Suckling is extremely fond +of exploring. We explored to King's-Weston twice last summer, +in that way, most delightfully, just after their first having the +barouche-landau. You have many parties of that kind here, I suppose, +Miss Woodhouse, every summer?" + +"No; not immediately here. We are rather out of distance of the very +striking beauties which attract the sort of parties you speak of; +and we are a very quiet set of people, I believe; more disposed +to stay at home than engage in schemes of pleasure." + +"Ah! there is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. +Nobody can be more devoted to home than I am. I was quite +a proverb for it at Maple Grove. Many a time has Selina said, +when she has been going to Bristol, `I really cannot get this girl +to move from the house. I absolutely must go in by myself, though I +hate being stuck up in the barouche-landau without a companion; +but Augusta, I believe, with her own good-will, would never stir +beyond the park paling.' Many a time has she said so; and yet I +am no advocate for entire seclusion. I think, on the contrary, +when people shut themselves up entirely from society, it is a very +bad thing; and that it is much more advisable to mix in the world in +a proper degree, without living in it either too much or too little. +I perfectly understand your situation, however, Miss Woodhouse-- +(looking towards Mr. Woodhouse), Your father's state of health must +be a great drawback. Why does not he try Bath?--Indeed he should. +Let me recommend Bath to you. I assure you I have no doubt of its doing +Mr. Woodhouse good." + +"My father tried it more than once, formerly; but without receiving +any benefit; and Mr. Perry, whose name, I dare say, is not unknown +to you, does not conceive it would be at all more likely to be +useful now." + +"Ah! that's a great pity; for I assure you, Miss Woodhouse, +where the waters do agree, it is quite wonderful the relief +they give. In my Bath life, I have seen such instances of it! +And it is so cheerful a place, that it could not fail of being of +use to Mr. Woodhouse's spirits, which, I understand, are sometimes +much depressed. And as to its recommendations to _you_, I fancy I +need not take much pains to dwell on them. The advantages of Bath +to the young are pretty generally understood. It would be a charming +introduction for you, who have lived so secluded a life; and I could +immediately secure you some of the best society in the place. +A line from me would bring you a little host of acquaintance; and my +particular friend, Mrs. Partridge, the lady I have always resided +with when in Bath, would be most happy to shew you any attentions, +and would be the very person for you to go into public with." + +It was as much as Emma could bear, without being impolite. +The idea of her being indebted to Mrs. Elton for what was called +an _introduction_--of her going into public under the auspices +of a friend of Mrs. Elton's--probably some vulgar, dashing widow, +who, with the help of a boarder, just made a shift to live!-- +The dignity of Miss Woodhouse, of Hartfield, was sunk indeed! + +She restrained herself, however, from any of the reproofs she could +have given, and only thanked Mrs. Elton coolly; "but their going +to Bath was quite out of the question; and she was not perfectly +convinced that the place might suit her better than her father." +And then, to prevent farther outrage and indignation, changed the +subject directly. + +"I do not ask whether you are musical, Mrs. Elton. Upon these occasions, +a lady's character generally precedes her; and Highbury has long +known that you are a superior performer." + +"Oh! no, indeed; I must protest against any such idea. +A superior performer!--very far from it, I assure you. +Consider from how partial a quarter your information came. +I am doatingly fond of music--passionately fond;--and my friends +say I am not entirely devoid of taste; but as to any thing else, +upon my honour my performance is _mediocre_ to the last degree. +You, Miss Woodhouse, I well know, play delightfully. I assure you +it has been the greatest satisfaction, comfort, and delight to me, +to hear what a musical society I am got into. I absolutely cannot +do without music. It is a necessary of life to me; and having always +been used to a very musical society, both at Maple Grove and in Bath, +it would have been a most serious sacrifice. I honestly said as much +to Mr. E. when he was speaking of my future home, and expressing +his fears lest the retirement of it should be disagreeable; +and the inferiority of the house too--knowing what I had been +accustomed to--of course he was not wholly without apprehension. +When he was speaking of it in that way, I honestly said that _the_ +_world_ I could give up--parties, balls, plays--for I had no fear +of retirement. Blessed with so many resources within myself, +the world was not necessary to _me_. I could do very well without it. +To those who had no resources it was a different thing; but my +resources made me quite independent. And as to smaller-sized rooms +than I had been used to, I really could not give it a thought. +I hoped I was perfectly equal to any sacrifice of that description. +Certainly I had been accustomed to every luxury at Maple Grove; but I +did assure him that two carriages were not necessary to my happiness, +nor were spacious apartments. `But,' said I, `to be quite honest, +I do not think I can live without something of a musical society. +I condition for nothing else; but without music, life would be a blank +to me.'" + +"We cannot suppose," said Emma, smiling, "that Mr. Elton would hesitate +to assure you of there being a _very_ musical society in Highbury; +and I hope you will not find he has outstepped the truth more than +may be pardoned, in consideration of the motive." + +"No, indeed, I have no doubts at all on that head. I am delighted +to find myself in such a circle. I hope we shall have many sweet +little concerts together. I think, Miss Woodhouse, you and I +must establish a musical club, and have regular weekly meetings +at your house, or ours. Will not it be a good plan? If _we_ +exert ourselves, I think we shall not be long in want of allies. +Something of that nature would be particularly desirable for _me_, +as an inducement to keep me in practice; for married women, you know-- +there is a sad story against them, in general. They are but too apt +to give up music." + +"But you, who are so extremely fond of it--there can +be no danger, surely?" + +"I should hope not; but really when I look around among my acquaintance, +I tremble. Selina has entirely given up music--never touches +the instrument--though she played sweetly. And the same may be said +of Mrs. Jeffereys--Clara Partridge, that was--and of the two Milmans, +now Mrs. Bird and Mrs. James Cooper; and of more than I can enumerate. +Upon my word it is enough to put one in a fright. I used to be +quite angry with Selina; but really I begin now to comprehend +that a married woman has many things to call her attention. +I believe I was half an hour this morning shut up with my housekeeper." + +"But every thing of that kind," said Emma, "will soon +be in so regular a train--" + +"Well," said Mrs. Elton, laughing, "we shall see." + +Emma, finding her so determined upon neglecting her music, +had nothing more to say; and, after a moment's pause, Mrs. Elton +chose another subject. + +"We have been calling at Randalls," said she, "and found them +both at home; and very pleasant people they seem to be. +I like them extremely. Mr. Weston seems an excellent creature-- +quite a first-rate favourite with me already, I assure you. +And _she_ appears so truly good--there is something so motherly +and kind-hearted about her, that it wins upon one directly. +She was your governess, I think?" + +Emma was almost too much astonished to answer; but Mrs. Elton +hardly waited for the affirmative before she went on. + +"Having understood as much, I was rather astonished to find her +so very lady-like! But she is really quite the gentlewoman." + +"Mrs. Weston's manners," said Emma, "were always particularly good. +Their propriety, simplicity, and elegance, would make them the safest +model for any young woman." + +"And who do you think came in while we were there?" + +Emma was quite at a loss. The tone implied some old acquaintance-- +and how could she possibly guess? + +"Knightley!" continued Mrs. Elton; "Knightley himself!--Was not +it lucky?--for, not being within when he called the other day, +I had never seen him before; and of course, as so particular a +friend of Mr. E.'s, I had a great curiosity. `My friend Knightley' +had been so often mentioned, that I was really impatient to see him; +and I must do my caro sposo the justice to say that he need not +be ashamed of his friend. Knightley is quite the gentleman. +I like him very much. Decidedly, I think, a very gentleman-like man." + +Happily, it was now time to be gone. They were off; and Emma +could breathe. + +"Insufferable woman!" was her immediate exclamation. "Worse than I +had supposed. Absolutely insufferable! Knightley!--I could not +have believed it. Knightley!--never seen him in her life before, +and call him Knightley!--and discover that he is a gentleman! +A little upstart, vulgar being, with her Mr. E., and her _caro_ _sposo_, +and her resources, and all her airs of pert pretension and +underbred finery. Actually to discover that Mr. Knightley is +a gentleman! I doubt whether he will return the compliment, +and discover her to be a lady. I could not have believed it! +And to propose that she and I should unite to form a musical club! +One would fancy we were bosom friends! And Mrs. Weston!-- +Astonished that the person who had brought me up should be +a gentlewoman! Worse and worse. I never met with her equal. +Much beyond my hopes. Harriet is disgraced by any comparison. +Oh! what would Frank Churchill say to her, if he were here? +How angry and how diverted he would be! Ah! there I am-- +thinking of him directly. Always the first person to be thought of! +How I catch myself out! Frank Churchill comes as regularly into +my mind!"-- + +All this ran so glibly through her thoughts, that by the time +her father had arranged himself, after the bustle of the Eltons' +departure, and was ready to speak, she was very tolerably capable +of attending. + +"Well, my dear," he deliberately began, "considering we never saw +her before, she seems a very pretty sort of young lady; and I dare say +she was very much pleased with you. She speaks a little too quick. +A little quickness of voice there is which rather hurts the ear. +But I believe I am nice; I do not like strange voices; and nobody speaks +like you and poor Miss Taylor. However, she seems a very obliging, +pretty-behaved young lady, and no doubt will make him a very good wife. +Though I think he had better not have married. I made the best +excuses I could for not having been able to wait on him and Mrs. Elton +on this happy occasion; I said that I hoped I _should_ in the course +of the summer. But I ought to have gone before. Not to wait upon +a bride is very remiss. Ah! it shews what a sad invalid I am! +But I do not like the corner into Vicarage Lane." + +"I dare say your apologies were accepted, sir. Mr. Elton knows you." + +"Yes: but a young lady--a bride--I ought to have paid my respects +to her if possible. It was being very deficient." + +"But, my dear papa, you are no friend to matrimony; and therefore +why should you be so anxious to pay your respects to a _bride_? +It ought to be no recommendation to _you_. It is encouraging people +to marry if you make so much of them." + +"No, my dear, I never encouraged any body to marry, but I would +always wish to pay every proper attention to a lady--and a bride, +especially, is never to be neglected. More is avowedly due to _her_. +A bride, you know, my dear, is always the first in company, +let the others be who they may." + +"Well, papa, if this is not encouragement to marry, I do not know +what is. And I should never have expected you to be lending your +sanction to such vanity-baits for poor young ladies." + +"My dear, you do not understand me. This is a +matter of mere common politeness and good-breeding, +and has nothing to do with any encouragement to people to marry." + +Emma had done. Her father was growing nervous, and could not +understand _her_. Her mind returned to Mrs. Elton's offences, +and long, very long, did they occupy her. + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Emma was not required, by any subsequent discovery, to retract her ill +opinion of Mrs. Elton. Her observation had been pretty correct. +Such as Mrs. Elton appeared to her on this second interview, +such she appeared whenever they met again,--self-important, presuming, +familiar, ignorant, and ill-bred. She had a little beauty and a +little accomplishment, but so little judgment that she thought herself +coming with superior knowledge of the world, to enliven and improve +a country neighbourhood; and conceived Miss Hawkins to have held +such a place in society as Mrs. Elton's consequence only could surpass. + +There was no reason to suppose Mr. Elton thought at all differently +from his wife. He seemed not merely happy with her, but proud. +He had the air of congratulating himself on having brought such +a woman to Highbury, as not even Miss Woodhouse could equal; +and the greater part of her new acquaintance, disposed to commend, +or not in the habit of judging, following the lead of Miss Bates's +good-will, or taking it for granted that the bride must be as clever +and as agreeable as she professed herself, were very well satisfied; +so that Mrs. Elton's praise passed from one mouth to another as it +ought to do, unimpeded by Miss Woodhouse, who readily continued her +first contribution and talked with a good grace of her being "very +pleasant and very elegantly dressed." + +In one respect Mrs. Elton grew even worse than she had appeared +at first. Her feelings altered towards Emma.--Offended, probably, +by the little encouragement which her proposals of intimacy met with, +she drew back in her turn and gradually became much more cold +and distant; and though the effect was agreeable, the ill-will +which produced it was necessarily increasing Emma's dislike. +Her manners, too--and Mr. Elton's, were unpleasant towards Harriet. +They were sneering and negligent. Emma hoped it must rapidly work +Harriet's cure; but the sensations which could prompt such behaviour +sunk them both very much.--It was not to be doubted that poor +Harriet's attachment had been an offering to conjugal unreserve, +and her own share in the story, under a colouring the least favourable +to her and the most soothing to him, had in all likelihood been +given also. She was, of course, the object of their joint dislike.-- +When they had nothing else to say, it must be always easy to begin +abusing Miss Woodhouse; and the enmity which they dared not shew +in open disrespect to her, found a broader vent in contemptuous +treatment of Harriet. + +Mrs. Elton took a great fancy to Jane Fairfax; and from the first. +Not merely when a state of warfare with one young lady might be +supposed to recommend the other, but from the very first; and she +was not satisfied with expressing a natural and reasonable admiration-- +but without solicitation, or plea, or privilege, she must be wanting +to assist and befriend her.--Before Emma had forfeited her confidence, +and about the third time of their meeting, she heard all Mrs. Elton's +knight-errantry on the subject.-- + +"Jane Fairfax is absolutely charming, Miss Woodhouse.--I quite +rave about Jane Fairfax.--A sweet, interesting creature. So mild +and ladylike--and with such talents!--I assure you I think she +has very extraordinary talents. I do not scruple to say that she +plays extremely well. I know enough of music to speak decidedly +on that point. Oh! she is absolutely charming! You will laugh at +my warmth--but, upon my word, I talk of nothing but Jane Fairfax.-- +And her situation is so calculated to affect one!--Miss Woodhouse, +we must exert ourselves and endeavour to do something for her. +We must bring her forward. Such talent as hers must not be suffered +to remain unknown.--I dare say you have heard those charming lines of +the poet, + + `Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, + `And waste its fragrance on the desert air.' + +We must not allow them to be verified in sweet Jane Fairfax." + +"I cannot think there is any danger of it," was Emma's calm answer-- +"and when you are better acquainted with Miss Fairfax's situation +and understand what her home has been, with Colonel and Mrs. Campbell, +I have no idea that you will suppose her talents can be unknown." + +"Oh! but dear Miss Woodhouse, she is now in such retirement, +such obscurity, so thrown away.--Whatever advantages she may have +enjoyed with the Campbells are so palpably at an end! And I think +she feels it. I am sure she does. She is very timid and silent. +One can see that she feels the want of encouragement. I like her +the better for it. I must confess it is a recommendation to me. +I am a great advocate for timidity--and I am sure one does +not often meet with it.--But in those who are at all inferior, +it is extremely prepossessing. Oh! I assure you, Jane Fairfax +is a very delightful character, and interests me more than I +can express." + +"You appear to feel a great deal--but I am not aware how you or any +of Miss Fairfax's acquaintance here, any of those who have known +her longer than yourself, can shew her any other attention than"-- + +"My dear Miss Woodhouse, a vast deal may be done by those who dare +to act. You and I need not be afraid. If _we_ set the example, +many will follow it as far as they can; though all have not +our situations. _We_ have carriages to fetch and convey her home, +and _we_ live in a style which could not make the addition of +Jane Fairfax, at any time, the least inconvenient.--I should be +extremely displeased if Wright were to send us up such a dinner, +as could make me regret having asked _more_ than Jane Fairfax +to partake of it. I have no idea of that sort of thing. It is +not likely that I _should_, considering what I have been used to. +My greatest danger, perhaps, in housekeeping, may be quite the +other way, in doing too much, and being too careless of expense. +Maple Grove will probably be my model more than it ought to be-- +for we do not at all affect to equal my brother, Mr. Suckling, +in income.--However, my resolution is taken as to noticing Jane Fairfax.-- +I shall certainly have her very often at my house, shall introduce +her wherever I can, shall have musical parties to draw out her talents, +and shall be constantly on the watch for an eligible situation. +My acquaintance is so very extensive, that I have little doubt +of hearing of something to suit her shortly.--I shall introduce her, +of course, very particularly to my brother and sister when they come +to us. I am sure they will like her extremely; and when she gets +a little acquainted with them, her fears will completely wear off, +for there really is nothing in the manners of either but what is +highly conciliating.--I shall have her very often indeed while they +are with me, and I dare say we shall sometimes find a seat for her in +the barouche-landau in some of our exploring parties." + +"Poor Jane Fairfax!"--thought Emma.--"You have not deserved this. +You may have done wrong with regard to Mr. Dixon, but this is a +punishment beyond what you can have merited!--The kindness and protection +of Mrs. Elton!--`Jane Fairfax and Jane Fairfax.' Heavens! Let me +not suppose that she dares go about, Emma Woodhouse-ing me!-- +But upon my honour, there seems no limits to the licentiousness +of that woman's tongue!" + +Emma had not to listen to such paradings again--to any so exclusively +addressed to herself--so disgustingly decorated with a "dear Miss +Woodhouse." The change on Mrs. Elton's side soon afterwards appeared, +and she was left in peace--neither forced to be the very particular +friend of Mrs. Elton, nor, under Mrs. Elton's guidance, the very +active patroness of Jane Fairfax, and only sharing with others in a +general way, in knowing what was felt, what was meditated, what was done. + +She looked on with some amusement.--Miss Bates's gratitude for +Mrs. Elton's attentions to Jane was in the first style of guileless +simplicity and warmth. She was quite one of her worthies-- +the most amiable, affable, delightful woman--just as accomplished +and condescending as Mrs. Elton meant to be considered. +Emma's only surprize was that Jane Fairfax should accept +those attentions and tolerate Mrs. Elton as she seemed to do. +She heard of her walking with the Eltons, sitting with the Eltons, +spending a day with the Eltons! This was astonishing!--She could not +have believed it possible that the taste or the pride of Miss Fairfax +could endure such society and friendship as the Vicarage had to offer. + +"She is a riddle, quite a riddle!" said she.--"To chuse to remain +here month after month, under privations of every sort! And now +to chuse the mortification of Mrs. Elton's notice and the penury +of her conversation, rather than return to the superior companions +who have always loved her with such real, generous affection." + +Jane had come to Highbury professedly for three months; the Campbells +were gone to Ireland for three months; but now the Campbells +had promised their daughter to stay at least till Midsummer, +and fresh invitations had arrived for her to join them there. +According to Miss Bates--it all came from her--Mrs. Dixon had +written most pressingly. Would Jane but go, means were to be found, +servants sent, friends contrived--no travelling difficulty allowed +to exist; but still she had declined it! + +"She must have some motive, more powerful than appears, for refusing +this invitation," was Emma's conclusion. "She must be under some +sort of penance, inflicted either by the Campbells or herself. +There is great fear, great caution, great resolution somewhere.-- +She is _not_ to be with the _Dixons_. The decree is issued by somebody. +But why must she consent to be with the Eltons?--Here is quite a +separate puzzle." + +Upon her speaking her wonder aloud on that part of the subject, +before the few who knew her opinion of Mrs. Elton, Mrs. Weston +ventured this apology for Jane. + +"We cannot suppose that she has any great enjoyment at the Vicarage, +my dear Emma--but it is better than being always at home. +Her aunt is a good creature, but, as a constant companion, +must be very tiresome. We must consider what Miss Fairfax quits, +before we condemn her taste for what she goes to." + +"You are right, Mrs. Weston," said Mr. Knightley warmly, "Miss Fairfax +is as capable as any of us of forming a just opinion of Mrs. Elton. +Could she have chosen with whom to associate, she would not have +chosen her. But (with a reproachful smile at Emma) she receives +attentions from Mrs. Elton, which nobody else pays her." + +Emma felt that Mrs. Weston was giving her a momentary glance; +and she was herself struck by his warmth. With a faint blush, +she presently replied, + +"Such attentions as Mrs. Elton's, I should have imagined, +would rather disgust than gratify Miss Fairfax. Mrs. Elton's +invitations I should have imagined any thing but inviting." + +"I should not wonder," said Mrs. Weston, "if Miss Fairfax were to have +been drawn on beyond her own inclination, by her aunt's eagerness +in accepting Mrs. Elton's civilities for her. Poor Miss Bates may +very likely have committed her niece and hurried her into a greater +appearance of intimacy than her own good sense would have dictated, +in spite of the very natural wish of a little change." + +Both felt rather anxious to hear him speak again; and after a few +minutes silence, he said, + +"Another thing must be taken into consideration too--Mrs. Elton +does not talk _to_ Miss Fairfax as she speaks _of_ her. We all know +the difference between the pronouns he or she and thou, the plainest +spoken amongst us; we all feel the influence of a something beyond +common civility in our personal intercourse with each other-- +a something more early implanted. We cannot give any body the +disagreeable hints that we may have been very full of the hour before. +We feel things differently. And besides the operation of this, +as a general principle, you may be sure that Miss Fairfax awes +Mrs. Elton by her superiority both of mind and manner; and that, +face to face, Mrs. Elton treats her with all the respect which she +has a claim to. Such a woman as Jane Fairfax probably never fell +in Mrs. Elton's way before--and no degree of vanity can prevent +her acknowledging her own comparative littleness in action, if not +in consciousness." + +"I know how highly you think of Jane Fairfax," said Emma. +Little Henry was in her thoughts, and a mixture of alarm and delicacy +made her irresolute what else to say. + +"Yes," he replied, "any body may know how highly I think of her." + +"And yet," said Emma, beginning hastily and with an arch look, +but soon stopping--it was better, however, to know the worst at once-- +she hurried on--"And yet, perhaps, you may hardly be aware yourself +how highly it is. The extent of your admiration may take you by +surprize some day or other." + +Mr. Knightley was hard at work upon the lower buttons of his thick +leather gaiters, and either the exertion of getting them together, +or some other cause, brought the colour into his face, as he answered, + +"Oh! are you there?--But you are miserably behindhand. Mr. Cole +gave me a hint of it six weeks ago." + +He stopped.--Emma felt her foot pressed by Mrs. Weston, and did +not herself know what to think. In a moment he went on-- + +"That will never be, however, I can assure you. Miss Fairfax, +I dare say, would not have me if I were to ask her--and I am very +sure I shall never ask her." + +Emma returned her friend's pressure with interest; and was pleased +enough to exclaim, + +"You are not vain, Mr. Knightley. I will say that for you." + +He seemed hardly to hear her; he was thoughtful--and in a manner +which shewed him not pleased, soon afterwards said, + +"So you have been settling that I should marry Jane Fairfax?" + +"No indeed I have not. You have scolded me too much for match-making, +for me to presume to take such a liberty with you. What I said +just now, meant nothing. One says those sort of things, of course, +without any idea of a serious meaning. Oh! no, upon my word I have not +the smallest wish for your marrying Jane Fairfax or Jane any body. +You would not come in and sit with us in this comfortable way, +if you were married." + +Mr. Knightley was thoughtful again. The result of his reverie was, +"No, Emma, I do not think the extent of my admiration for her will +ever take me by surprize.--I never had a thought of her in that way, +I assure you." And soon afterwards, "Jane Fairfax is a very charming +young woman--but not even Jane Fairfax is perfect. She has a fault. +She has not the open temper which a man would wish for in a wife." + +Emma could not but rejoice to hear that she had a fault. +"Well," said she, "and you soon silenced Mr. Cole, I suppose?" + +"Yes, very soon. He gave me a quiet hint; I told him he was mistaken; +he asked my pardon and said no more. Cole does not want to be wiser +or wittier than his neighbours." + +"In that respect how unlike dear Mrs. Elton, who wants to be wiser +and wittier than all the world! I wonder how she speaks of the Coles-- +what she calls them! How can she find any appellation for them, +deep enough in familiar vulgarity? She calls you, Knightley--what can +she do for Mr. Cole? And so I am not to be surprized that Jane +Fairfax accepts her civilities and consents to be with her. +Mrs. Weston, your argument weighs most with me. I can much more +readily enter into the temptation of getting away from Miss Bates, +than I can believe in the triumph of Miss Fairfax's mind over +Mrs. Elton. I have no faith in Mrs. Elton's acknowledging herself +the inferior in thought, word, or deed; or in her being under any +restraint beyond her own scanty rule of good-breeding. I cannot +imagine that she will not be continually insulting her visitor +with praise, encouragement, and offers of service; that she will not be +continually detailing her magnificent intentions, from the procuring +her a permanent situation to the including her in those delightful +exploring parties which are to take place in the barouche-landau." + +"Jane Fairfax has feeling," said Mr. Knightley--"I do not +accuse her of want of feeling. Her sensibilities, I suspect, +are strong--and her temper excellent in its power of forbearance, +patience, self-controul; but it wants openness. She is reserved, +more reserved, I think, than she used to be--And I love an +open temper. No--till Cole alluded to my supposed attachment, +it had never entered my head. I saw Jane Fairfax and conversed with +her, with admiration and pleasure always--but with no thought beyond." + +"Well, Mrs. Weston," said Emma triumphantly when he left them, +"what do you say now to Mr. Knightley's marrying Jane Fairfax?" + +"Why, really, dear Emma, I say that he is so very much occupied +by the idea of _not_ being in love with her, that I should not wonder +if it were to end in his being so at last. Do not beat me." + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +Every body in and about Highbury who had ever visited Mr. Elton, +was disposed to pay him attention on his marriage. Dinner-parties and +evening-parties were made for him and his lady; and invitations +flowed in so fast that she had soon the pleasure of apprehending +they were never to have a disengaged day. + +"I see how it is," said she. "I see what a life I am to lead +among you. Upon my word we shall be absolutely dissipated. +We really seem quite the fashion. If this is living in the country, +it is nothing very formidable. From Monday next to Saturday, +I assure you we have not a disengaged day!--A woman with fewer +resources than I have, need not have been at a loss." + +No invitation came amiss to her. Her Bath habits made evening-parties +perfectly natural to her, and Maple Grove had given her a taste +for dinners. She was a little shocked at the want of two +drawing rooms, at the poor attempt at rout-cakes, and there being +no ice in the Highbury card-parties. Mrs. Bates, Mrs. Perry, +Mrs. Goddard and others, were a good deal behind-hand in knowledge +of the world, but she would soon shew them how every thing ought +to be arranged. In the course of the spring she must return their +civilities by one very superior party--in which her card-tables +should be set out with their separate candles and unbroken packs +in the true style--and more waiters engaged for the evening +than their own establishment could furnish, to carry round +the refreshments at exactly the proper hour, and in the proper order. + +Emma, in the meanwhile, could not be satisfied without a dinner +at Hartfield for the Eltons. They must not do less than others, +or she should be exposed to odious suspicions, and imagined capable +of pitiful resentment. A dinner there must be. After Emma had +talked about it for ten minutes, Mr. Woodhouse felt no unwillingness, +and only made the usual stipulation of not sitting at the bottom +of the table himself, with the usual regular difficulty of deciding +who should do it for him. + +The persons to be invited, required little thought. Besides the Eltons, +it must be the Westons and Mr. Knightley; so far it was all of course-- +and it was hardly less inevitable that poor little Harriet must +be asked to make the eighth:--but this invitation was not given +with equal satisfaction, and on many accounts Emma was particularly +pleased by Harriet's begging to be allowed to decline it. +"She would rather not be in his company more than she could help. +She was not yet quite able to see him and his charming happy +wife together, without feeling uncomfortable. If Miss Woodhouse +would not be displeased, she would rather stay at home." +It was precisely what Emma would have wished, had she deemed it +possible enough for wishing. She was delighted with the fortitude +of her little friend--for fortitude she knew it was in her to give +up being in company and stay at home; and she could now invite the +very person whom she really wanted to make the eighth, Jane Fairfax.-- +Since her last conversation with Mrs. Weston and Mr. Knightley, +she was more conscience-stricken about Jane Fairfax than she had +often been.--Mr. Knightley's words dwelt with her. He had said +that Jane Fairfax received attentions from Mrs. Elton which nobody +else paid her. + +"This is very true," said she, "at least as far as relates to me, +which was all that was meant--and it is very shameful.--Of the same age-- +and always knowing her--I ought to have been more her friend.-- +She will never like me now. I have neglected her too long. But I +will shew her greater attention than I have done." + +Every invitation was successful. They were all disengaged and all happy.-- +The preparatory interest of this dinner, however, was not yet over. +A circumstance rather unlucky occurred. The two eldest little +Knightleys were engaged to pay their grandpapa and aunt a visit of +some weeks in the spring, and their papa now proposed bringing them, +and staying one whole day at Hartfield--which one day would be +the very day of this party.--His professional engagements did +not allow of his being put off, but both father and daughter were +disturbed by its happening so. Mr. Woodhouse considered eight +persons at dinner together as the utmost that his nerves could bear-- +and here would be a ninth--and Emma apprehended that it would +be a ninth very much out of humour at not being able to come even +to Hartfield for forty-eight hours without falling in with a dinner-party. + +She comforted her father better than she could comfort herself, +by representing that though he certainly would make them nine, +yet he always said so little, that the increase of noise would be +very immaterial. She thought it in reality a sad exchange for herself, +to have him with his grave looks and reluctant conversation opposed +to her instead of his brother. + +The event was more favourable to Mr. Woodhouse than to Emma. +John Knightley came; but Mr. Weston was unexpectedly summoned to town +and must be absent on the very day. He might be able to join them +in the evening, but certainly not to dinner. Mr. Woodhouse was quite +at ease; and the seeing him so, with the arrival of the little boys +and the philosophic composure of her brother on hearing his fate, +removed the chief of even Emma's vexation. + +The day came, the party were punctually assembled, and Mr. John Knightley +seemed early to devote himself to the business of being agreeable. +Instead of drawing his brother off to a window while they waited +for dinner, he was talking to Miss Fairfax. Mrs. Elton, as elegant +as lace and pearls could make her, he looked at in silence-- +wanting only to observe enough for Isabella's information--but Miss +Fairfax was an old acquaintance and a quiet girl, and he could +talk to her. He had met her before breakfast as he was returning +from a walk with his little boys, when it had been just beginning +to rain. It was natural to have some civil hopes on the subject, +and he said, + +"I hope you did not venture far, Miss Fairfax, this morning, or I +am sure you must have been wet.--We scarcely got home in time. +I hope you turned directly." + +"I went only to the post-office," said she, "and reached home +before the rain was much. It is my daily errand. I always fetch +the letters when I am here. It saves trouble, and is a something +to get me out. A walk before breakfast does me good." + +"Not a walk in the rain, I should imagine." + +"No, but it did not absolutely rain when I set out." + +Mr. John Knightley smiled, and replied, + +"That is to say, you chose to have your walk, for you were not six +yards from your own door when I had the pleasure of meeting you; +and Henry and John had seen more drops than they could count long before. +The post-office has a great charm at one period of our lives. +When you have lived to my age, you will begin to think letters are +never worth going through the rain for." + +There was a little blush, and then this answer, + +"I must not hope to be ever situated as you are, in the midst of +every dearest connexion, and therefore I cannot expect that simply +growing older should make me indifferent about letters." + +"Indifferent! Oh! no--I never conceived you could become indifferent. +Letters are no matter of indifference; they are generally a very +positive curse." + +"You are speaking of letters of business; mine are letters +of friendship." + +"I have often thought them the worst of the two," replied he coolly. +"Business, you know, may bring money, but friendship hardly +ever does." + +"Ah! you are not serious now. I know Mr. John Knightley too well-- +I am very sure he understands the value of friendship as well as +any body. I can easily believe that letters are very little to you, +much less than to me, but it is not your being ten years older than +myself which makes the difference, it is not age, but situation. +You have every body dearest to you always at hand, I, probably, +never shall again; and therefore till I have outlived all my affections, +a post-office, I think, must always have power to draw me out, +in worse weather than to-day." + +"When I talked of your being altered by time, by the progress of years," +said John Knightley, "I meant to imply the change of situation +which time usually brings. I consider one as including the other. +Time will generally lessen the interest of every attachment not within +the daily circle--but that is not the change I had in view for you. +As an old friend, you will allow me to hope, Miss Fairfax, that ten +years hence you may have as many concentrated objects as I have." + +It was kindly said, and very far from giving offence. A pleasant +"thank you" seemed meant to laugh it off, but a blush, a quivering lip, +a tear in the eye, shewed that it was felt beyond a laugh. +Her attention was now claimed by Mr. Woodhouse, who being, +according to his custom on such occasions, making the circle of +his guests, and paying his particular compliments to the ladies, +was ending with her--and with all his mildest urbanity, said, + +"I am very sorry to hear, Miss Fairfax, of your being out this +morning in the rain. Young ladies should take care of themselves.-- +Young ladies are delicate plants. They should take care of their +health and their complexion. My dear, did you change your stockings?" + +"Yes, sir, I did indeed; and I am very much obliged by your kind +solicitude about me." + +"My dear Miss Fairfax, young ladies are very sure to be cared for.-- +I hope your good grand-mama and aunt are well. They are some +of my very old friends. I wish my health allowed me to be a +better neighbour. You do us a great deal of honour to-day, I am sure. +My daughter and I are both highly sensible of your goodness, +and have the greatest satisfaction in seeing you at Hartfield." + +The kind-hearted, polite old man might then sit down and feel +that he had done his duty, and made every fair lady welcome and easy. + +By this time, the walk in the rain had reached Mrs. Elton, +and her remonstrances now opened upon Jane. + +"My dear Jane, what is this I hear?--Going to the post-office +in the rain!--This must not be, I assure you.--You sad girl, +how could you do such a thing?--It is a sign I was not there +to take care of you." + +Jane very patiently assured her that she had not caught any cold. + +"Oh! do not tell _me_. You really are a very sad girl, and do not +know how to take care of yourself.--To the post-office indeed! +Mrs. Weston, did you ever hear the like? You and I must positively +exert our authority." + +"My advice," said Mrs. Weston kindly and persuasively, "I certainly +do feel tempted to give. Miss Fairfax, you must not run such risks.-- +Liable as you have been to severe colds, indeed you ought +to be particularly careful, especially at this time of year. +The spring I always think requires more than common care. +Better wait an hour or two, or even half a day for your letters, +than run the risk of bringing on your cough again. Now do not you +feel that you had? Yes, I am sure you are much too reasonable. +You look as if you would not do such a thing again." + +"Oh! she _shall_ _not_ do such a thing again," eagerly rejoined +Mrs. Elton. "We will not allow her to do such a thing again:"-- +and nodding significantly--"there must be some arrangement made, +there must indeed. I shall speak to Mr. E. The man who fetches +our letters every morning (one of our men, I forget his name) +shall inquire for yours too and bring them to you. That will obviate +all difficulties you know; and from _us_ I really think, my dear Jane, +you can have no scruple to accept such an accommodation." + +"You are extremely kind," said Jane; "but I cannot give up my +early walk. I am advised to be out of doors as much as I can, +I must walk somewhere, and the post-office is an object; and upon +my word, I have scarcely ever had a bad morning before." + +"My dear Jane, say no more about it. The thing is determined, +that is (laughing affectedly) as far as I can presume to determine +any thing without the concurrence of my lord and master. You know, +Mrs. Weston, you and I must be cautious how we express ourselves. +But I do flatter myself, my dear Jane, that my influence is not entirely +worn out. If I meet with no insuperable difficulties therefore, +consider that point as settled." + +"Excuse me," said Jane earnestly, "I cannot by any means consent +to such an arrangement, so needlessly troublesome to your servant. +If the errand were not a pleasure to me, it could be done, as it +always is when I am not here, by my grandmama's." + +"Oh! my dear; but so much as Patty has to do!--And it is a kindness +to employ our men." + +Jane looked as if she did not mean to be conquered; but instead +of answering, she began speaking again to Mr. John Knightley. + +"The post-office is a wonderful establishment!" said she.-- +"The regularity and despatch of it! If one thinks of all that it +has to do, and all that it does so well, it is really astonishing!" + +"It is certainly very well regulated." + +"So seldom that any negligence or blunder appears! So seldom +that a letter, among the thousands that are constantly passing +about the kingdom, is even carried wrong--and not one in a million, +I suppose, actually lost! And when one considers the variety +of hands, and of bad hands too, that are to be deciphered, +it increases the wonder." + +"The clerks grow expert from habit.--They must begin with some +quickness of sight and hand, and exercise improves them. If you +want any farther explanation," continued he, smiling, "they are +paid for it. That is the key to a great deal of capacity. +The public pays and must be served well." + +The varieties of handwriting were farther talked of, and the usual +observations made. + +"I have heard it asserted," said John Knightley, "that the same +sort of handwriting often prevails in a family; and where the +same master teaches, it is natural enough. But for that reason, +I should imagine the likeness must be chiefly confined to the females, +for boys have very little teaching after an early age, and scramble +into any hand they can get. Isabella and Emma, I think, do write +very much alike. I have not always known their writing apart." + +"Yes," said his brother hesitatingly, "there is a likeness. +I know what you mean--but Emma's hand is the strongest." + +"Isabella and Emma both write beautifully," said Mr. Woodhouse; +"and always did. And so does poor Mrs. Weston"--with half a sigh +and half a smile at her. + +"I never saw any gentleman's handwriting"--Emma began, looking also +at Mrs. Weston; but stopped, on perceiving that Mrs. Weston was +attending to some one else--and the pause gave her time to reflect, +"Now, how am I going to introduce him?--Am I unequal to speaking +his name at once before all these people? Is it necessary +for me to use any roundabout phrase?--Your Yorkshire friend-- +your correspondent in Yorkshire;--that would be the way, I suppose, +if I were very bad.--No, I can pronounce his name without the +smallest distress. I certainly get better and better.--Now for it." + +Mrs. Weston was disengaged and Emma began again--"Mr. Frank Churchill +writes one of the best gentleman's hands I ever saw." + +"I do not admire it," said Mr. Knightley. "It is too small-- +wants strength. It is like a woman's writing." + +This was not submitted to by either lady. They vindicated him +against the base aspersion. "No, it by no means wanted strength-- +it was not a large hand, but very clear and certainly strong. +Had not Mrs. Weston any letter about her to produce?" No, she had +heard from him very lately, but having answered the letter, had put +it away. + +"If we were in the other room," said Emma, "if I had my writing-desk, +I am sure I could produce a specimen. I have a note of his.-- +Do not you remember, Mrs. Weston, employing him to write for you +one day?" + +"He chose to say he was employed"-- + +"Well, well, I have that note; and can shew it after dinner +to convince Mr. Knightley." + +"Oh! when a gallant young man, like Mr. Frank Churchill," +said Mr. Knightley dryly, "writes to a fair lady like Miss Woodhouse, +he will, of course, put forth his best." + +Dinner was on table.--Mrs. Elton, before she could be spoken to, +was ready; and before Mr. Woodhouse had reached her with his request +to be allowed to hand her into the dining-parlour, was saying-- + +"Must I go first? I really am ashamed of always leading the way." + +Jane's solicitude about fetching her own letters had not escaped Emma. +She had heard and seen it all; and felt some curiosity to know +whether the wet walk of this morning had produced any. She suspected +that it _had_; that it would not have been so resolutely encountered +but in full expectation of hearing from some one very dear, +and that it had not been in vain. She thought there was an air +of greater happiness than usual--a glow both of complexion and spirits. + +She could have made an inquiry or two, as to the expedition +and the expense of the Irish mails;--it was at her tongue's end-- +but she abstained. She was quite determined not to utter a word +that should hurt Jane Fairfax's feelings; and they followed +the other ladies out of the room, arm in arm, with an appearance +of good-will highly becoming to the beauty and grace of each. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +When the ladies returned to the drawing-room after dinner, Emma found +it hardly possible to prevent their making two distinct parties;-- +with so much perseverance in judging and behaving ill did Mrs. Elton +engross Jane Fairfax and slight herself. She and Mrs. Weston were +obliged to be almost always either talking together or silent together. +Mrs. Elton left them no choice. If Jane repressed her for a +little time, she soon began again; and though much that passed +between them was in a half-whisper, especially on Mrs. Elton's side, +there was no avoiding a knowledge of their principal subjects: +The post-office--catching cold--fetching letters--and friendship, +were long under discussion; and to them succeeded one, which must +be at least equally unpleasant to Jane--inquiries whether she had +yet heard of any situation likely to suit her, and professions of +Mrs. Elton's meditated activity. + +"Here is April come!" said she, "I get quite anxious about you. +June will soon be here." + +"But I have never fixed on June or any other month--merely looked +forward to the summer in general." + +"But have you really heard of nothing?" + +"I have not even made any inquiry; I do not wish to make any yet." + +"Oh! my dear, we cannot begin too early; you are not aware +of the difficulty of procuring exactly the desirable thing." + +"I not aware!" said Jane, shaking her head; "dear Mrs. Elton, +who can have thought of it as I have done?" + +"But you have not seen so much of the world as I have. You do not +know how many candidates there always are for the _first_ situations. +I saw a vast deal of that in the neighbourhood round Maple Grove. +A cousin of Mr. Suckling, Mrs. Bragge, had such an infinity +of applications; every body was anxious to be in her family, +for she moves in the first circle. Wax-candles in the schoolroom! +You may imagine how desirable! Of all houses in the kingdom +Mrs. Bragge's is the one I would most wish to see you in." + +"Colonel and Mrs. Campbell are to be in town again by midsummer," +said Jane. "I must spend some time with them; I am sure they will +want it;--afterwards I may probably be glad to dispose of myself. +But I would not wish you to take the trouble of making any inquiries +at present." + +"Trouble! aye, I know your scruples. You are afraid of giving +me trouble; but I assure you, my dear Jane, the Campbells can +hardly be more interested about you than I am. I shall write +to Mrs. Partridge in a day or two, and shall give her a strict +charge to be on the look-out for any thing eligible." + +"Thank you, but I would rather you did not mention the subject +to her; till the time draws nearer, I do not wish to be giving +any body trouble." + +"But, my dear child, the time is drawing near; here is April, +and June, or say even July, is very near, with such business +to accomplish before us. Your inexperience really amuses me! +A situation such as you deserve, and your friends would require for you, +is no everyday occurrence, is not obtained at a moment's notice; +indeed, indeed, we must begin inquiring directly." + +"Excuse me, ma'am, but this is by no means my intention; I make no +inquiry myself, and should be sorry to have any made by my friends. +When I am quite determined as to the time, I am not at all afraid +of being long unemployed. There are places in town, offices, +where inquiry would soon produce something--Offices for the sale-- +not quite of human flesh--but of human intellect." + +"Oh! my dear, human flesh! You quite shock me; if you mean a fling +at the slave-trade, I assure you Mr. Suckling was always rather +a friend to the abolition." + +"I did not mean, I was not thinking of the slave-trade," replied Jane; +"governess-trade, I assure you, was all that I had in view; +widely different certainly as to the guilt of those who carry it on; +but as to the greater misery of the victims, I do not know where +it lies. But I only mean to say that there are advertising offices, +and that by applying to them I should have no doubt of very soon +meeting with something that would do." + +"Something that would do!" repeated Mrs. Elton. "Aye, _that_ may +suit your humble ideas of yourself;--I know what a modest creature +you are; but it will not satisfy your friends to have you taking up +with any thing that may offer, any inferior, commonplace situation, +in a family not moving in a certain circle, or able to command +the elegancies of life." + +"You are very obliging; but as to all that, I am very indifferent; +it would be no object to me to be with the rich; my mortifications, +I think, would only be the greater; I should suffer more from comparison. +A gentleman's family is all that I should condition for." + +"I know you, I know you; you would take up with any thing; but I +shall be a little more nice, and I am sure the good Campbells will +be quite on my side; with your superior talents, you have a right +to move in the first circle. Your musical knowledge alone would +entitle you to name your own terms, have as many rooms as you like, +and mix in the family as much as you chose;--that is--I do not know-- +if you knew the harp, you might do all that, I am very sure; +but you sing as well as play;--yes, I really believe you might, +even without the harp, stipulate for what you chose;--and you must +and shall be delightfully, honourably and comfortably settled before +the Campbells or I have any rest." + +"You may well class the delight, the honour, and the comfort +of such a situation together," said Jane, "they are pretty sure +to be equal; however, I am very serious in not wishing any thing +to be attempted at present for me. I am exceedingly obliged to you, +Mrs. Elton, I am obliged to any body who feels for me, but I am +quite serious in wishing nothing to be done till the summer. +For two or three months longer I shall remain where I am, and as +I am." + +"And I am quite serious too, I assure you," replied Mrs. Elton gaily, +"in resolving to be always on the watch, and employing my friends +to watch also, that nothing really unexceptionable may pass us." + +In this style she ran on; never thoroughly stopped by any thing +till Mr. Woodhouse came into the room; her vanity had then a change +of object, and Emma heard her saying in the same half-whisper to Jane, + +"Here comes this dear old beau of mine, I protest!--Only think of his +gallantry in coming away before the other men!--what a dear creature +he is;--I assure you I like him excessively. I admire all that quaint, +old-fashioned politeness; it is much more to my taste than modern ease; +modern ease often disgusts me. But this good old Mr. Woodhouse, +I wish you had heard his gallant speeches to me at dinner. Oh! I assure +you I began to think my caro sposo would be absolutely jealous. +I fancy I am rather a favourite; he took notice of my gown. +How do you like it?--Selina's choice--handsome, I think, but I +do not know whether it is not over-trimmed; I have the greatest +dislike to the idea of being over-trimmed--quite a horror of finery. +I must put on a few ornaments now, because it is expected of me. +A bride, you know, must appear like a bride, but my natural taste +is all for simplicity; a simple style of dress is so infinitely +preferable to finery. But I am quite in the minority, I believe; +few people seem to value simplicity of dress,--show and finery +are every thing. I have some notion of putting such a trimming +as this to my white and silver poplin. Do you think it will +look well?" + +The whole party were but just reassembled in the drawing-room +when Mr. Weston made his appearance among them. He had returned +to a late dinner, and walked to Hartfield as soon as it was over. +He had been too much expected by the best judges, for surprize-- +but there was great joy. Mr. Woodhouse was almost as glad to see +him now, as he would have been sorry to see him before. John Knightley +only was in mute astonishment.--That a man who might have spent +his evening quietly at home after a day of business in London, +should set off again, and walk half a mile to another man's house, +for the sake of being in mixed company till bed-time, of finishing +his day in the efforts of civility and the noise of numbers, +was a circumstance to strike him deeply. A man who had been in motion +since eight o'clock in the morning, and might now have been still, +who had been long talking, and might have been silent, who had been +in more than one crowd, and might have been alone!--Such a man, +to quit the tranquillity and independence of his own fireside, +and on the evening of a cold sleety April day rush out again into +the world!--Could he by a touch of his finger have instantly taken +back his wife, there would have been a motive; but his coming would +probably prolong rather than break up the party. John Knightley +looked at him with amazement, then shrugged his shoulders, and said, +"I could not have believed it even of _him_." + +Mr. Weston meanwhile, perfectly unsuspicious of the indignation +he was exciting, happy and cheerful as usual, and with all +the right of being principal talker, which a day spent anywhere +from home confers, was making himself agreeable among the rest; +and having satisfied the inquiries of his wife as to his dinner, +convincing her that none of all her careful directions to the servants +had been forgotten, and spread abroad what public news he had heard, +was proceeding to a family communication, which, though principally +addressed to Mrs. Weston, he had not the smallest doubt of being +highly interesting to every body in the room. He gave her a letter, +it was from Frank, and to herself; he had met with it in his way, +and had taken the liberty of opening it. + +"Read it, read it," said he, "it will give you pleasure; +only a few lines--will not take you long; read it to Emma." + +The two ladies looked over it together; and he sat smiling +and talking to them the whole time, in a voice a little subdued, +but very audible to every body. + +"Well, he is coming, you see; good news, I think. Well, what do +you say to it?--I always told you he would be here again soon, +did not I?--Anne, my dear, did not I always tell you so, and you would +not believe me?--In town next week, you see--at the latest, I dare say; +for _she_ is as impatient as the black gentleman when any thing is +to be done; most likely they will be there to-morrow or Saturday. +As to her illness, all nothing of course. But it is an excellent +thing to have Frank among us again, so near as town. They will stay +a good while when they do come, and he will be half his time with us. +This is precisely what I wanted. Well, pretty good news, is not it? +Have you finished it? Has Emma read it all? Put it up, put it up; +we will have a good talk about it some other time, but it will not +do now. I shall only just mention the circumstance to the others in a +common way." + +Mrs. Weston was most comfortably pleased on the occasion. +Her looks and words had nothing to restrain them. She was happy, +she knew she was happy, and knew she ought to be happy. +Her congratulations were warm and open; but Emma could not speak +so fluently. _She_ was a little occupied in weighing her own feelings, +and trying to understand the degree of her agitation, which she +rather thought was considerable. + +Mr. Weston, however, too eager to be very observant, too communicative +to want others to talk, was very well satisfied with what she did say, +and soon moved away to make the rest of his friends happy by a partial +communication of what the whole room must have overheard already. + +It was well that he took every body's joy for granted, or he +might not have thought either Mr. Woodhouse or Mr. Knightley +particularly delighted. They were the first entitled, +after Mrs. Weston and Emma, to be made happy;--from them he would +have proceeded to Miss Fairfax, but she was so deep in conversation +with John Knightley, that it would have been too positive +an interruption; and finding himself close to Mrs. Elton, and +her attention disengaged, he necessarily began on the subject with her. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +"I hope I shall soon have the pleasure of introducing my son to you," +said Mr. Weston. + +Mrs. Elton, very willing to suppose a particular compliment intended +her by such a hope, smiled most graciously. + +"You have heard of a certain Frank Churchill, I presume," he continued-- +"and know him to be my son, though he does not bear my name." + +"Oh! yes, and I shall be very happy in his acquaintance. +I am sure Mr. Elton will lose no time in calling on him; and we +shall both have great pleasure in seeing him at the Vicarage." + +"You are very obliging.--Frank will be extremely happy, I am sure.-- +He is to be in town next week, if not sooner. We have notice of it +in a letter to-day. I met the letters in my way this morning, +and seeing my son's hand, presumed to open it--though it was not directed +to me--it was to Mrs. Weston. She is his principal correspondent, +I assure you. I hardly ever get a letter." + +"And so you absolutely opened what was directed to her! Oh! Mr. Weston-- +(laughing affectedly) I must protest against that.--A most dangerous +precedent indeed!--I beg you will not let your neighbours follow +your example.--Upon my word, if this is what I am to expect, +we married women must begin to exert ourselves!--Oh! Mr. Weston, +I could not have believed it of you!" + +"Aye, we men are sad fellows. You must take care of yourself, +Mrs. Elton.--This letter tells us--it is a short letter--written in +a hurry, merely to give us notice--it tells us that they are all +coming up to town directly, on Mrs. Churchill's account--she has +not been well the whole winter, and thinks Enscombe too cold for her-- +so they are all to move southward without loss of time." + +"Indeed!--from Yorkshire, I think. Enscombe is in Yorkshire?" + +"Yes, they are about one hundred and ninety miles from London. +a considerable journey." + +"Yes, upon my word, very considerable. Sixty-five miles farther +than from Maple Grove to London. But what is distance, Mr. Weston, +to people of large fortune?--You would be amazed to hear how my brother, +Mr. Suckling, sometimes flies about. You will hardly believe me-- +but twice in one week he and Mr. Bragge went to London and back again +with four horses." + +"The evil of the distance from Enscombe," said Mr. Weston, "is, that +Mrs. Churchill, _as_ _we_ _understand_, has not been able to leave the +sofa for a week together. In Frank's last letter she complained, +he said, of being too weak to get into her conservatory without having +both his arm and his uncle's! This, you know, speaks a great degree +of weakness--but now she is so impatient to be in town, that she +means to sleep only two nights on the road.--So Frank writes word. +Certainly, delicate ladies have very extraordinary constitutions, +Mrs. Elton. You must grant me that." + +"No, indeed, I shall grant you nothing. I Always take the part +of my own sex. I do indeed. I give you notice--You will find me +a formidable antagonist on that point. I always stand up for women-- +and I assure you, if you knew how Selina feels with respect +to sleeping at an inn, you would not wonder at Mrs. Churchill's +making incredible exertions to avoid it. Selina says it is quite +horror to her--and I believe I have caught a little of her nicety. +She always travels with her own sheets; an excellent precaution. +Does Mrs. Churchill do the same?" + +"Depend upon it, Mrs. Churchill does every thing that any other +fine lady ever did. Mrs. Churchill will not be second to any lady +in the land for"-- + +Mrs. Elton eagerly interposed with, + +"Oh! Mr. Weston, do not mistake me. Selina is no fine lady, +I assure you. Do not run away with such an idea." + +"Is not she? Then she is no rule for Mrs. Churchill, who is +as thorough a fine lady as any body ever beheld." + +Mrs. Elton began to think she had been wrong in disclaiming so warmly. +It was by no means her object to have it believed that her sister +was _not_ a fine lady; perhaps there was want of spirit in the pretence +of it;--and she was considering in what way she had best retract, +when Mr. Weston went on. + +"Mrs. Churchill is not much in my good graces, as you may suspect-- +but this is quite between ourselves. She is very fond of Frank, +and therefore I would not speak ill of her. Besides, she is out of +health now; but _that_ indeed, by her own account, she has always been. +I would not say so to every body, Mrs. Elton, but I have not much +faith in Mrs. Churchill's illness." + +"If she is really ill, why not go to Bath, Mr. Weston?--To Bath, +or to Clifton?" "She has taken it into her head that Enscombe is too +cold for her. The fact is, I suppose, that she is tired of Enscombe. +She has now been a longer time stationary there, than she ever +was before, and she begins to want change. It is a retired place. +A fine place, but very retired." + +"Aye--like Maple Grove, I dare say. Nothing can stand more retired from +the road than Maple Grove. Such an immense plantation all round it! +You seem shut out from every thing--in the most complete retirement.-- +And Mrs. Churchill probably has not health or spirits like Selina +to enjoy that sort of seclusion. Or, perhaps she may not have +resources enough in herself to be qualified for a country life. +I always say a woman cannot have too many resources--and I feel +very thankful that I have so many myself as to be quite independent +of society." + +"Frank was here in February for a fortnight." + +"So I remember to have heard. He will find an _addition_ to the +society of Highbury when he comes again; that is, if I may presume +to call myself an addition. But perhaps he may never have heard +of there being such a creature in the world." + +This was too loud a call for a compliment to be passed by, +and Mr. Weston, with a very good grace, immediately exclaimed, + +"My dear madam! Nobody but yourself could imagine such a +thing possible. Not heard of you!--I believe Mrs. Weston's +letters lately have been full of very little else than Mrs. Elton." + +He had done his duty and could return to his son. + +"When Frank left us," continued he, "it was quite uncertain when we +might see him again, which makes this day's news doubly welcome. +It has been completely unexpected. That is, _I_ always had a strong +persuasion he would be here again soon, I was sure something +favourable would turn up--but nobody believed me. He and Mrs. Weston +were both dreadfully desponding. `How could he contrive to come? +And how could it be supposed that his uncle and aunt would spare +him again?' and so forth--I always felt that something would happen +in our favour; and so it has, you see. I have observed, Mrs. Elton, +in the course of my life, that if things are going untowardly one month, +they are sure to mend the next." + +"Very true, Mr. Weston, perfectly true. It is just what I used +to say to a certain gentleman in company in the days of courtship, +when, because things did not go quite right, did not proceed with all +the rapidity which suited his feelings, he was apt to be in despair, +and exclaim that he was sure at this rate it would be _May_ before +Hymen's saffron robe would be put on for us. Oh! the pains I have +been at to dispel those gloomy ideas and give him cheerfuller views! +The carriage--we had disappointments about the carriage;--one morning, +I remember, he came to me quite in despair." + +She was stopped by a slight fit of coughing, and Mr. Weston instantly +seized the opportunity of going on. + +"You were mentioning May. May is the very month which Mrs. Churchill +is ordered, or has ordered herself, to spend in some warmer place +than Enscombe--in short, to spend in London; so that we have the +agreeable prospect of frequent visits from Frank the whole spring-- +precisely the season of the year which one should have chosen +for it: days almost at the longest; weather genial and pleasant, +always inviting one out, and never too hot for exercise. When he +was here before, we made the best of it; but there was a good deal +of wet, damp, cheerless weather; there always is in February, you know, +and we could not do half that we intended. Now will be the time. +This will be complete enjoyment; and I do not know, Mrs. Elton, +whether the uncertainty of our meetings, the sort of constant +expectation there will be of his coming in to-day or to-morrow, +and at any hour, may not be more friendly to happiness than having +him actually in the house. I think it is so. I think it is the +state of mind which gives most spirit and delight. I hope you +will be pleased with my son; but you must not expect a prodigy. +He is generally thought a fine young man, but do not expect a prodigy. +Mrs. Weston's partiality for him is very great, and, as you may suppose, +most gratifying to me. She thinks nobody equal to him." + +"And I assure you, Mr. Weston, I have very little doubt that my +opinion will be decidedly in his favour. I have heard so much +in praise of Mr. Frank Churchill.--At the same time it is fair +to observe, that I am one of those who always judge for themselves, +and are by no means implicitly guided by others. I give you notice +that as I find your son, so I shall judge of him.--I am no flatterer." + +Mr. Weston was musing. + +"I hope," said he presently, "I have not been severe upon poor +Mrs. Churchill. If she is ill I should be sorry to do her injustice; +but there are some traits in her character which make it difficult +for me to speak of her with the forbearance I could wish. +You cannot be ignorant, Mrs. Elton, of my connexion with the family, +nor of the treatment I have met with; and, between ourselves, +the whole blame of it is to be laid to her. She was the instigator. +Frank's mother would never have been slighted as she was but for her. +Mr. Churchill has pride; but his pride is nothing to his wife's: +his is a quiet, indolent, gentlemanlike sort of pride that would +harm nobody, and only make himself a little helpless and tiresome; +but her pride is arrogance and insolence! And what inclines one less +to bear, she has no fair pretence of family or blood. She was nobody +when he married her, barely the daughter of a gentleman; but ever +since her being turned into a Churchill she has out-Churchill'd them +all in high and mighty claims: but in herself, I assure you, she is +an upstart." + +"Only think! well, that must be infinitely provoking! I have quite +a horror of upstarts. Maple Grove has given me a thorough disgust +to people of that sort; for there is a family in that neighbourhood +who are such an annoyance to my brother and sister from the airs +they give themselves! Your description of Mrs. Churchill made me +think of them directly. People of the name of Tupman, very lately +settled there, and encumbered with many low connexions, but giving +themselves immense airs, and expecting to be on a footing with the old +established families. A year and a half is the very utmost that they can +have lived at West Hall; and how they got their fortune nobody knows. +They came from Birmingham, which is not a place to promise much, +you know, Mr. Weston. One has not great hopes from Birmingham. +I always say there is something direful in the sound: but nothing +more is positively known of the Tupmans, though a good many things +I assure you are suspected; and yet by their manners they evidently +think themselves equal even to my brother, Mr. Suckling, who happens +to be one of their nearest neighbours. It is infinitely too bad. +Mr. Suckling, who has been eleven years a resident at Maple Grove, +and whose father had it before him--I believe, at least--I am +almost sure that old Mr. Suckling had completed the purchase before +his death." + +They were interrupted. Tea was carrying round, and Mr. Weston, +having said all that he wanted, soon took the opportunity of +walking away. + +After tea, Mr. and Mrs. Weston, and Mr. Elton sat down with Mr. Woodhouse +to cards. The remaining five were left to their own powers, +and Emma doubted their getting on very well; for Mr. Knightley seemed +little disposed for conversation; Mrs. Elton was wanting notice, +which nobody had inclination to pay, and she was herself +in a worry of spirits which would have made her prefer being silent. + +Mr. John Knightley proved more talkative than his brother. +He was to leave them early the next day; and he soon began with-- + +"Well, Emma, I do not believe I have any thing more to say about +the boys; but you have your sister's letter, and every thing is +down at full length there we may be sure. My charge would be much +more concise than her's, and probably not much in the same spirit; +all that I have to recommend being comprised in, do not spoil them, +and do not physic them." + +"I rather hope to satisfy you both," said Emma, "for I shall do all +in my power to make them happy, which will be enough for Isabella; +and happiness must preclude false indulgence and physic." + +"And if you find them troublesome, you must send them home again." + +"That is very likely. You think so, do not you?" + +"I hope I am aware that they may be too noisy for your father-- +or even may be some encumbrance to you, if your visiting engagements +continue to increase as much as they have done lately." + +"Increase!" + +"Certainly; you must be sensible that the last half-year has made +a great difference in your way of life." + +"Difference! No indeed I am not." + +"There can be no doubt of your being much more engaged with company +than you used to be. Witness this very time. Here am I come +down for only one day, and you are engaged with a dinner-party!-- +When did it happen before, or any thing like it? Your neighbourhood +is increasing, and you mix more with it. A little while ago, +every letter to Isabella brought an account of fresh gaieties; +dinners at Mr. Cole's, or balls at the Crown. The difference +which Randalls, Randalls alone makes in your goings-on, is very great." + +"Yes," said his brother quickly, "it is Randalls that does it all." + +"Very well--and as Randalls, I suppose, is not likely to have less +influence than heretofore, it strikes me as a possible thing, Emma, +that Henry and John may be sometimes in the way. And if they are, +I only beg you to send them home." + +"No," cried Mr. Knightley, "that need not be the consequence. +Let them be sent to Donwell. I shall certainly be at leisure." + +"Upon my word," exclaimed Emma, "you amuse me! I should like to know +how many of all my numerous engagements take place without your being +of the party; and why I am to be supposed in danger of wanting leisure +to attend to the little boys. These amazing engagements of mine-- +what have they been? Dining once with the Coles--and having a ball +talked of, which never took place. I can understand you--(nodding at +Mr. John Knightley)--your good fortune in meeting with so many of +your friends at once here, delights you too much to pass unnoticed. +But you, (turning to Mr. Knightley,) who know how very, very seldom +I am ever two hours from Hartfield, why you should foresee such a +series of dissipation for me, I cannot imagine. And as to my dear +little boys, I must say, that if Aunt Emma has not time for them, +I do not think they would fare much better with Uncle Knightley, +who is absent from home about five hours where she is absent one-- +and who, when he is at home, is either reading to himself or settling +his accounts." + +Mr. Knightley seemed to be trying not to smile; and succeeded +without difficulty, upon Mrs. Elton's beginning to talk to him. + + + + +VOLUME III + + + +CHAPTER I + + +A very little quiet reflection was enough to satisfy Emma as to the +nature of her agitation on hearing this news of Frank Churchill. +She was soon convinced that it was not for herself she was feeling at +all apprehensive or embarrassed; it was for him. Her own attachment +had really subsided into a mere nothing; it was not worth thinking of;-- +but if he, who had undoubtedly been always so much the most in love +of the two, were to be returning with the same warmth of sentiment +which he had taken away, it would be very distressing. If a separation +of two months should not have cooled him, there were dangers and evils +before her:--caution for him and for herself would be necessary. +She did not mean to have her own affections entangled again, +and it would be incumbent on her to avoid any encouragement of his. + +She wished she might be able to keep him from an absolute declaration. +That would be so very painful a conclusion of their present acquaintance! +and yet, she could not help rather anticipating something decisive. +She felt as if the spring would not pass without bringing a crisis, +an event, a something to alter her present composed and tranquil state. + +It was not very long, though rather longer than Mr. Weston had foreseen, +before she had the power of forming some opinion of Frank Churchill's +feelings. The Enscombe family were not in town quite so soon as had +been imagined, but he was at Highbury very soon afterwards. He rode +down for a couple of hours; he could not yet do more; but as he came +from Randalls immediately to Hartfield, she could then exercise all +her quick observation, and speedily determine how he was influenced, +and how she must act. They met with the utmost friendliness. +There could be no doubt of his great pleasure in seeing her. +But she had an almost instant doubt of his caring for her as he +had done, of his feeling the same tenderness in the same degree. +She watched him well. It was a clear thing he was less in love than he +had been. Absence, with the conviction probably of her indifference, +had produced this very natural and very desirable effect. + +He was in high spirits; as ready to talk and laugh as ever, and seemed +delighted to speak of his former visit, and recur to old stories: +and he was not without agitation. It was not in his calmness that +she read his comparative difference. He was not calm; his spirits +were evidently fluttered; there was restlessness about him. +Lively as he was, it seemed a liveliness that did not satisfy himself; +but what decided her belief on the subject, was his staying only a +quarter of an hour, and hurrying away to make other calls in Highbury. +"He had seen a group of old acquaintance in the street as he passed-- +he had not stopped, he would not stop for more than a word--but he +had the vanity to think they would be disappointed if he did not call, +and much as he wished to stay longer at Hartfield, he must hurry off." +She had no doubt as to his being less in love--but neither his +agitated spirits, nor his hurrying away, seemed like a perfect cure; +and she was rather inclined to think it implied a dread of her +returning power, and a discreet resolution of not trusting himself +with her long. + +This was the only visit from Frank Churchill in the course of ten days. +He was often hoping, intending to come--but was always prevented. +His aunt could not bear to have him leave her. Such was his own account +at Randall's. If he were quite sincere, if he really tried to come, +it was to be inferred that Mrs. Churchill's removal to London had +been of no service to the wilful or nervous part of her disorder. +That she was really ill was very certain; he had declared himself +convinced of it, at Randalls. Though much might be fancy, he could +not doubt, when he looked back, that she was in a weaker state +of health than she had been half a year ago. He did not believe it +to proceed from any thing that care and medicine might not remove, +or at least that she might not have many years of existence before her; +but he could not be prevailed on, by all his father's doubts, to say +that her complaints were merely imaginary, or that she was as strong +as ever. + +It soon appeared that London was not the place for her. She could +not endure its noise. Her nerves were under continual irritation +and suffering; and by the ten days' end, her nephew's letter to +Randalls communicated a change of plan. They were going to remove +immediately to Richmond. Mrs. Churchill had been recommended +to the medical skill of an eminent person there, and had otherwise +a fancy for the place. A ready-furnished house in a favourite +spot was engaged, and much benefit expected from the change. + +Emma heard that Frank wrote in the highest spirits of this arrangement, +and seemed most fully to appreciate the blessing of having two +months before him of such near neighbourhood to many dear friends-- +for the house was taken for May and June. She was told that now +he wrote with the greatest confidence of being often with them, +almost as often as he could even wish. + +Emma saw how Mr. Weston understood these joyous prospects. He was +considering her as the source of all the happiness they offered. +She hoped it was not so. Two months must bring it to the proof. + +Mr. Weston's own happiness was indisputable. He was quite delighted. +It was the very circumstance he could have wished for. Now, it would +be really having Frank in their neighbourhood. What were nine miles +to a young man?--An hour's ride. He would be always coming over. +The difference in that respect of Richmond and London was enough +to make the whole difference of seeing him always and seeing +him never. Sixteen miles--nay, eighteen--it must be full eighteen +to Manchester-street--was a serious obstacle. Were he ever able +to get away, the day would be spent in coming and returning. +There was no comfort in having him in London; he might as well be +at Enscombe; but Richmond was the very distance for easy intercourse. +Better than nearer! + +One good thing was immediately brought to a certainty by this removal,-- +the ball at the Crown. It had not been forgotten before, but it had +been soon acknowledged vain to attempt to fix a day. Now, however, +it was absolutely to be; every preparation was resumed, and very soon +after the Churchills had removed to Richmond, a few lines from Frank, +to say that his aunt felt already much better for the change, +and that he had no doubt of being able to join them for twenty-four +hours at any given time, induced them to name as early a day as possible. + +Mr. Weston's ball was to be a real thing. A very few to-morrows +stood between the young people of Highbury and happiness. + +Mr. Woodhouse was resigned. The time of year lightened the evil +to him. May was better for every thing than February. Mrs. Bates +was engaged to spend the evening at Hartfield, James had due notice, +and he sanguinely hoped that neither dear little Henry nor dear +little John would have any thing the matter with them, while dear +Emma were gone. + + + +CHAPTER II + + +No misfortune occurred, again to prevent the ball. The day approached, +the day arrived; and after a morning of some anxious watching, +Frank Churchill, in all the certainty of his own self, reached Randalls +before dinner, and every thing was safe. + +No second meeting had there yet been between him and Emma. +The room at the Crown was to witness it;--but it would be better +than a common meeting in a crowd. Mr. Weston had been so very +earnest in his entreaties for her arriving there as soon as possible +after themselves, for the purpose of taking her opinion as to the +propriety and comfort of the rooms before any other persons came, +that she could not refuse him, and must therefore spend some quiet +interval in the young man's company. She was to convey Harriet, +and they drove to the Crown in good time, the Randalls party just +sufficiently before them. + +Frank Churchill seemed to have been on the watch; and though +he did not say much, his eyes declared that he meant to have +a delightful evening. They all walked about together, to see +that every thing was as it should be; and within a few minutes +were joined by the contents of another carriage, which Emma +could not hear the sound of at first, without great surprize. +"So unreasonably early!" she was going to exclaim; but she presently +found that it was a family of old friends, who were coming, like herself, +by particular desire, to help Mr. Weston's judgment; and they were +so very closely followed by another carriage of cousins, who had been +entreated to come early with the same distinguishing earnestness, +on the same errand, that it seemed as if half the company might +soon be collected together for the purpose of preparatory inspection. + +Emma perceived that her taste was not the only taste on which +Mr. Weston depended, and felt, that to be the favourite and +intimate of a man who had so many intimates and confidantes, +was not the very first distinction in the scale of vanity. +She liked his open manners, but a little less of open-heartedness +would have made him a higher character.--General benevolence, +but not general friendship, made a man what he ought to be.-- +She could fancy such a man. The whole party walked about, +and looked, and praised again; and then, having nothing else to do, +formed a sort of half-circle round the fire, to observe in their +various modes, till other subjects were started, that, though _May_, +a fire in the evening was still very pleasant. + +Emma found that it was not Mr. Weston's fault that the number +of privy councillors was not yet larger. They had stopped +at Mrs. Bates's door to offer the use of their carriage, +but the aunt and niece were to be brought by the Eltons. + +Frank was standing by her, but not steadily; there was a restlessness, +which shewed a mind not at ease. He was looking about, he was going +to the door, he was watching for the sound of other carriages,-- +impatient to begin, or afraid of being always near her. + +Mrs. Elton was spoken of. "I think she must be here soon," said he. +"I have a great curiosity to see Mrs. Elton, I have heard so much +of her. It cannot be long, I think, before she comes." + +A carriage was heard. He was on the move immediately; +but coming back, said, + +"I am forgetting that I am not acquainted with her. I have never seen +either Mr. or Mrs. Elton. I have no business to put myself forward." + +Mr. and Mrs. Elton appeared; and all the smiles and the proprieties passed. + +"But Miss Bates and Miss Fairfax!" said Mr. Weston, looking about. +"We thought you were to bring them." + +The mistake had been slight. The carriage was sent for them now. +Emma longed to know what Frank's first opinion of Mrs. Elton +might be; how he was affected by the studied elegance of her dress, +and her smiles of graciousness. He was immediately qualifying +himself to form an opinion, by giving her very proper attention, +after the introduction had passed. + +In a few minutes the carriage returned.--Somebody talked of rain.-- +"I will see that there are umbrellas, sir," said Frank to his father: +"Miss Bates must not be forgotten:" and away he went. Mr. Weston +was following; but Mrs. Elton detained him, to gratify him by her +opinion of his son; and so briskly did she begin, that the young +man himself, though by no means moving slowly, could hardly be out +of hearing. + +"A very fine young man indeed, Mr. Weston. You know I candidly told +you I should form my own opinion; and I am happy to say that I am +extremely pleased with him.--You may believe me. I never compliment. +I think him a very handsome young man, and his manners are precisely +what I like and approve--so truly the gentleman, without the least +conceit or puppyism. You must know I have a vast dislike to puppies-- +quite a horror of them. They were never tolerated at Maple Grove. +Neither Mr. Suckling nor me had ever any patience with them; and we +used sometimes to say very cutting things! Selina, who is mild almost +to a fault, bore with them much better." + +While she talked of his son, Mr. Weston's attention was chained; +but when she got to Maple Grove, he could recollect that there were +ladies just arriving to be attended to, and with happy smiles must +hurry away. + +Mrs. Elton turned to Mrs. Weston. "I have no doubt of its being +our carriage with Miss Bates and Jane. Our coachman and horses are +so extremely expeditious!--I believe we drive faster than any body.-- +What a pleasure it is to send one's carriage for a friend!-- +I understand you were so kind as to offer, but another time it +will be quite unnecessary. You may be very sure I shall always +take care of _them_." + +Miss Bates and Miss Fairfax, escorted by the two gentlemen, +walked into the room; and Mrs. Elton seemed to think it as much +her duty as Mrs. Weston's to receive them. Her gestures and +movements might be understood by any one who looked on like Emma; +but her words, every body's words, were soon lost under the +incessant flow of Miss Bates, who came in talking, and had not +finished her speech under many minutes after her being admitted +into the circle at the fire. As the door opened she was heard, + +"So very obliging of you!--No rain at all. Nothing to signify. +I do not care for myself. Quite thick shoes. And Jane declares-- +Well!--(as soon as she was within the door) Well! This is brilliant +indeed!--This is admirable!--Excellently contrived, upon my word. +Nothing wanting. Could not have imagined it.--So well lighted up!-- +Jane, Jane, look!--did you ever see any thing? Oh! Mr. Weston, +you must really have had Aladdin's lamp. Good Mrs. Stokes +would not know her own room again. I saw her as I came in; +she was standing in the entrance. `Oh! Mrs. Stokes,' said I-- +but I had not time for more." She was now met by Mrs. Weston.-- +"Very well, I thank you, ma'am. I hope you are quite well. +Very happy to hear it. So afraid you might have a headache!-- +seeing you pass by so often, and knowing how much trouble you must have. +Delighted to hear it indeed. Ah! dear Mrs. Elton, so obliged +to you for the carriage!--excellent time. Jane and I quite ready. +Did not keep the horses a moment. Most comfortable carriage.-- +Oh! and I am sure our thanks are due to you, Mrs. Weston, on that score. +Mrs. Elton had most kindly sent Jane a note, or we should have been.-- +But two such offers in one day!--Never were such neighbours. +I said to my mother, `Upon my word, ma'am--.' Thank you, my mother +is remarkably well. Gone to Mr. Woodhouse's. I made her take +her shawl--for the evenings are not warm--her large new shawl-- +Mrs. Dixon's wedding-present.--So kind of her to think of my mother! +Bought at Weymouth, you know--Mr. Dixon's choice. There were +three others, Jane says, which they hesitated about some time. +Colonel Campbell rather preferred an olive. My dear Jane, +are you sure you did not wet your feet?--It was but a drop or two, +but I am so afraid:--but Mr. Frank Churchill was so extremely-- +and there was a mat to step upon--I shall never forget his +extreme politeness.--Oh! Mr. Frank Churchill, I must tell you +my mother's spectacles have never been in fault since; the rivet +never came out again. My mother often talks of your good-nature. +Does not she, Jane?--Do not we often talk of Mr. Frank Churchill?-- +Ah! here's Miss Woodhouse.--Dear Miss Woodhouse, how do you do?-- +Very well I thank you, quite well. This is meeting quite in fairy-land!-- +Such a transformation!--Must not compliment, I know (eyeing Emma +most complacently)--that would be rude--but upon my word, Miss Woodhouse, +you do look--how do you like Jane's hair?--You are a judge.-- +She did it all herself. Quite wonderful how she does her hair!-- +No hairdresser from London I think could.--Ah! Dr. Hughes I declare-- +and Mrs. Hughes. Must go and speak to Dr. and Mrs. Hughes for +a moment.--How do you do? How do you do?--Very well, I thank you. +This is delightful, is not it?--Where's dear Mr. Richard?-- +Oh! there he is. Don't disturb him. Much better employed talking +to the young ladies. How do you do, Mr. Richard?--I saw you the +other day as you rode through the town--Mrs. Otway, I protest!-- +and good Mr. Otway, and Miss Otway and Miss Caroline.--Such a host +of friends!--and Mr. George and Mr. Arthur!--How do you do? How do +you all do?--Quite well, I am much obliged to you. Never better.-- +Don't I hear another carriage?--Who can this be?--very likely the +worthy Coles.--Upon my word, this is charming to be standing about +among such friends! And such a noble fire!--I am quite roasted. +No coffee, I thank you, for me--never take coffee.--A little tea +if you please, sir, by and bye,--no hurry--Oh! here it comes. +Every thing so good!" + +Frank Churchill returned to his station by Emma; and as soon as Miss +Bates was quiet, she found herself necessarily overhearing the +discourse of Mrs. Elton and Miss Fairfax, who were standing a little +way behind her.--He was thoughtful. Whether he were overhearing too, +she could not determine. After a good many compliments to Jane +on her dress and look, compliments very quietly and properly taken, +Mrs. Elton was evidently wanting to be complimented herself-- +and it was, "How do you like my gown?--How do you like my trimming?-- +How has Wright done my hair?"--with many other relative questions, +all answered with patient politeness. Mrs. Elton then said, +"Nobody can think less of dress in general than I do--but upon such +an occasion as this, when every body's eyes are so much upon me, +and in compliment to the Westons--who I have no doubt are giving +this ball chiefly to do me honour--I would not wish to be inferior +to others. And I see very few pearls in the room except mine.-- +So Frank Churchill is a capital dancer, I understand.--We shall see +if our styles suit.--A fine young man certainly is Frank Churchill. +I like him very well." + +At this moment Frank began talking so vigorously, that Emma could +not but imagine he had overheard his own praises, and did not want +to hear more;--and the voices of the ladies were drowned for a while, +till another suspension brought Mrs. Elton's tones again distinctly +forward.--Mr. Elton had just joined them, and his wife was exclaiming, + +"Oh! you have found us out at last, have you, in our seclusion?-- +I was this moment telling Jane, I thought you would begin to be +impatient for tidings of us." + +"Jane!"--repeated Frank Churchill, with a look of surprize and displeasure.-- +"That is easy--but Miss Fairfax does not disapprove it, I suppose." + +"How do you like Mrs. Elton?" said Emma in a whisper. + +"Not at all." + +"You are ungrateful." + +"Ungrateful!--What do you mean?" Then changing from a frown to +a smile--"No, do not tell me--I do not want to know what you mean.-- +Where is my father?--When are we to begin dancing?" + +Emma could hardly understand him; he seemed in an odd humour. +He walked off to find his father, but was quickly back again with both +Mr. and Mrs. Weston. He had met with them in a little perplexity, +which must be laid before Emma. It had just occurred to Mrs. Weston +that Mrs. Elton must be asked to begin the ball; that she would +expect it; which interfered with all their wishes of giving Emma +that distinction.--Emma heard the sad truth with fortitude. + +"And what are we to do for a proper partner for her?" said Mr. Weston. +"She will think Frank ought to ask her." + +Frank turned instantly to Emma, to claim her former promise; +and boasted himself an engaged man, which his father looked his most +perfect approbation of--and it then appeared that Mrs. Weston was +wanting _him_ to dance with Mrs. Elton himself, and that their business +was to help to persuade him into it, which was done pretty soon.-- +Mr. Weston and Mrs. Elton led the way, Mr. Frank Churchill and Miss +Woodhouse followed. Emma must submit to stand second to Mrs. Elton, +though she had always considered the ball as peculiarly for her. +It was almost enough to make her think of marrying. Mrs. Elton had +undoubtedly the advantage, at this time, in vanity completely gratified; +for though she had intended to begin with Frank Churchill, she could +not lose by the change. Mr. Weston might be his son's superior.-- +In spite of this little rub, however, Emma was smiling with enjoyment, +delighted to see the respectable length of the set as it was forming, +and to feel that she had so many hours of unusual festivity before her.-- +She was more disturbed by Mr. Knightley's not dancing than by any +thing else.--There he was, among the standers-by, where he ought not +to be; he ought to be dancing,--not classing himself with the husbands, +and fathers, and whist-players, who were pretending to feel an interest +in the dance till their rubbers were made up,--so young as he looked!-- +He could not have appeared to greater advantage perhaps anywhere, +than where he had placed himself. His tall, firm, upright figure, +among the bulky forms and stooping shoulders of the elderly men, +was such as Emma felt must draw every body's eyes; and, excepting her +own partner, there was not one among the whole row of young men +who could be compared with him.--He moved a few steps nearer, +and those few steps were enough to prove in how gentlemanlike +a manner, with what natural grace, he must have danced, would he +but take the trouble.--Whenever she caught his eye, she forced him +to smile; but in general he was looking grave. She wished he could +love a ballroom better, and could like Frank Churchill better.-- +He seemed often observing her. She must not flatter herself that he +thought of her dancing, but if he were criticising her behaviour, +she did not feel afraid. There was nothing like flirtation between +her and her partner. They seemed more like cheerful, easy friends, +than lovers. That Frank Churchill thought less of her than he had done, +was indubitable. + +The ball proceeded pleasantly. The anxious cares, the incessant +attentions of Mrs. Weston, were not thrown away. Every body +seemed happy; and the praise of being a delightful ball, +which is seldom bestowed till after a ball has ceased to be, +was repeatedly given in the very beginning of the existence of this. +Of very important, very recordable events, it was not more productive +than such meetings usually are. There was one, however, which Emma +thought something of.--The two last dances before supper were begun, +and Harriet had no partner;--the only young lady sitting down;-- +and so equal had been hitherto the number of dancers, that how there +could be any one disengaged was the wonder!--But Emma's wonder +lessened soon afterwards, on seeing Mr. Elton sauntering about. +He would not ask Harriet to dance if it were possible to be avoided: +she was sure he would not--and she was expecting him every moment to +escape into the card-room. + +Escape, however, was not his plan. He came to the part of the room +where the sitters-by were collected, spoke to some, and walked about +in front of them, as if to shew his liberty, and his resolution +of maintaining it. He did not omit being sometimes directly +before Miss Smith, or speaking to those who were close to her.-- +Emma saw it. She was not yet dancing; she was working her way +up from the bottom, and had therefore leisure to look around, +and by only turning her head a little she saw it all. When she was +half-way up the set, the whole group were exactly behind her, and she +would no longer allow her eyes to watch; but Mr. Elton was so near, +that she heard every syllable of a dialogue which just then took +place between him and Mrs. Weston; and she perceived that his wife, +who was standing immediately above her, was not only listening also, +but even encouraging him by significant glances.--The kind-hearted, +gentle Mrs. Weston had left her seat to join him and say, "Do not +you dance, Mr. Elton?" to which his prompt reply was, "Most readily, +Mrs. Weston, if you will dance with me." + +"Me!--oh! no--I would get you a better partner than myself. +I am no dancer." + +"If Mrs. Gilbert wishes to dance," said he, "I shall have great pleasure, +I am sure--for, though beginning to feel myself rather an old married man, +and that my dancing days are over, it would give me very great +pleasure at any time to stand up with an old friend like Mrs. Gilbert." + +"Mrs. Gilbert does not mean to dance, but there is a young lady +disengaged whom I should be very glad to see dancing--Miss Smith." +"Miss Smith!--oh!--I had not observed.--You are extremely obliging-- +and if I were not an old married man.--But my dancing days are over, +Mrs. Weston. You will excuse me. Any thing else I should be most happy +to do, at your command--but my dancing days are over." + +Mrs. Weston said no more; and Emma could imagine with what +surprize and mortification she must be returning to her seat. +This was Mr. Elton! the amiable, obliging, gentle Mr. Elton.-- +She looked round for a moment; he had joined Mr. Knightley at a +little distance, and was arranging himself for settled conversation, +while smiles of high glee passed between him and his wife. + +She would not look again. Her heart was in a glow, and she feared +her face might be as hot. + +In another moment a happier sight caught her;--Mr. Knightley +leading Harriet to the set!--Never had she been more surprized, +seldom more delighted, than at that instant. She was all pleasure +and gratitude, both for Harriet and herself, and longed to be +thanking him; and though too distant for speech, her countenance +said much, as soon as she could catch his eye again. + +His dancing proved to be just what she had believed it, +extremely good; and Harriet would have seemed almost too lucky, +if it had not been for the cruel state of things before, and for +the very complete enjoyment and very high sense of the distinction +which her happy features announced. It was not thrown away on her, +she bounded higher than ever, flew farther down the middle, +and was in a continual course of smiles. + +Mr. Elton had retreated into the card-room, looking (Emma trusted) +very foolish. She did not think he was quite so hardened as his wife, +though growing very like her;--_she_ spoke some of her feelings, +by observing audibly to her partner, + +"Knightley has taken pity on poor little Miss Smith!--Very goodnatured, +I declare." + +Supper was announced. The move began; and Miss Bates might be +heard from that moment, without interruption, till her being +seated at table and taking up her spoon. + +"Jane, Jane, my dear Jane, where are you?--Here is your tippet. +Mrs. Weston begs you to put on your tippet. She says she is afraid +there will be draughts in the passage, though every thing has +been done--One door nailed up--Quantities of matting--My dear Jane, +indeed you must. Mr. Churchill, oh! you are too obliging! +How well you put it on!--so gratified! Excellent dancing indeed!-- +Yes, my dear, I ran home, as I said I should, to help grandmama +to bed, and got back again, and nobody missed me.--I set off without +saying a word, just as I told you. Grandmama was quite well, +had a charming evening with Mr. Woodhouse, a vast deal of chat, +and backgammon.--Tea was made downstairs, biscuits and baked apples +and wine before she came away: amazing luck in some of her throws: +and she inquired a great deal about you, how you were amused, +and who were your partners. `Oh!' said I, `I shall not forestall Jane; +I left her dancing with Mr. George Otway; she will love to tell you +all about it herself to-morrow: her first partner was Mr. Elton, +I do not know who will ask her next, perhaps Mr. William Cox.' +My dear sir, you are too obliging.--Is there nobody you would +not rather?--I am not helpless. Sir, you are most kind. Upon my word, +Jane on one arm, and me on the other!--Stop, stop, let us stand +a little back, Mrs. Elton is going; dear Mrs. Elton, how elegant +she looks!--Beautiful lace!--Now we all follow in her train. +Quite the queen of the evening!--Well, here we are at the passage. +Two steps, Jane, take care of the two steps. Oh! no, there is +but one. Well, I was persuaded there were two. How very odd! +I was convinced there were two, and there is but one. I never saw any +thing equal to the comfort and style--Candles everywhere.--I was telling +you of your grandmama, Jane,--There was a little disappointment.-- +The baked apples and biscuits, excellent in their way, you know; +but there was a delicate fricassee of sweetbread and some asparagus +brought in at first, and good Mr. Woodhouse, not thinking the +asparagus quite boiled enough, sent it all out again. Now there +is nothing grandmama loves better than sweetbread and asparagus-- +so she was rather disappointed, but we agreed we would not speak of it +to any body, for fear of its getting round to dear Miss Woodhouse, +who would be so very much concerned!--Well, this is brilliant! +I am all amazement! could not have supposed any thing!--Such +elegance and profusion!--I have seen nothing like it since-- +Well, where shall we sit? where shall we sit? Anywhere, so that +Jane is not in a draught. Where _I_ sit is of no consequence. +Oh! do you recommend this side?--Well, I am sure, Mr. Churchill-- +only it seems too good--but just as you please. What you direct +in this house cannot be wrong. Dear Jane, how shall we ever +recollect half the dishes for grandmama? Soup too! Bless me! +I should not be helped so soon, but it smells most excellent, and I +cannot help beginning." + +Emma had no opportunity of speaking to Mr. Knightley till +after supper; but, when they were all in the ballroom again, +her eyes invited him irresistibly to come to her and be thanked. +He was warm in his reprobation of Mr. Elton's conduct; it had been +unpardonable rudeness; and Mrs. Elton's looks also received the due +share of censure. + +"They aimed at wounding more than Harriet," said he. "Emma, why +is it that they are your enemies?" + +He looked with smiling penetration; and, on receiving +no answer, added, "_She_ ought not to be angry with you, I suspect, +whatever he may be.--To that surmise, you say nothing, of course; +but confess, Emma, that you did want him to marry Harriet." + +"I did," replied Emma, "and they cannot forgive me." + +He shook his head; but there was a smile of indulgence with it, +and he only said, + +"I shall not scold you. I leave you to your own reflections." + +"Can you trust me with such flatterers?--Does my vain spirit ever +tell me I am wrong?" + +"Not your vain spirit, but your serious spirit.--If one leads +you wrong, I am sure the other tells you of it." + +"I do own myself to have been completely mistaken in Mr. Elton. +There is a littleness about him which you discovered, and which I +did not: and I was fully convinced of his being in love with Harriet. +It was through a series of strange blunders!" + +"And, in return for your acknowledging so much, I will do you the justice +to say, that you would have chosen for him better than he has chosen for +himself.--Harriet Smith has some first-rate qualities, which Mrs. Elton +is totally without. An unpretending, single-minded, artless girl-- +infinitely to be preferred by any man of sense and taste to such +a woman as Mrs. Elton. I found Harriet more conversable than I expected." + +Emma was extremely gratified.--They were interrupted by the bustle +of Mr. Weston calling on every body to begin dancing again. + +"Come Miss Woodhouse, Miss Otway, Miss Fairfax, what are you all doing?-- +Come Emma, set your companions the example. Every body is lazy! +Every body is asleep!" + +"I am ready," said Emma, "whenever I am wanted." + +"Whom are you going to dance with?" asked Mr. Knightley. + +She hesitated a moment, and then replied, "With you, if you will +ask me." + +"Will you?" said he, offering his hand. + +"Indeed I will. You have shewn that you can dance, and you know we +are not really so much brother and sister as to make it at all improper." + +"Brother and sister! no, indeed." + + + +CHAPTER III + + +This little explanation with Mr. Knightley gave Emma considerable +pleasure. It was one of the agreeable recollections of the ball, +which she walked about the lawn the next morning to enjoy.--She was +extremely glad that they had come to so good an understanding respecting +the Eltons, and that their opinions of both husband and wife were so +much alike; and his praise of Harriet, his concession in her favour, +was peculiarly gratifying. The impertinence of the Eltons, which for +a few minutes had threatened to ruin the rest of her evening, had been +the occasion of some of its highest satisfactions; and she looked +forward to another happy result--the cure of Harriet's infatuation.-- +From Harriet's manner of speaking of the circumstance before they +quitted the ballroom, she had strong hopes. It seemed as if her eyes +were suddenly opened, and she were enabled to see that Mr. Elton +was not the superior creature she had believed him. The fever +was over, and Emma could harbour little fear of the pulse being +quickened again by injurious courtesy. She depended on the evil +feelings of the Eltons for supplying all the discipline of pointed +neglect that could be farther requisite.--Harriet rational, +Frank Churchill not too much in love, and Mr. Knightley not +wanting to quarrel with her, how very happy a summer must be before her! + +She was not to see Frank Churchill this morning. He had told +her that he could not allow himself the pleasure of stopping +at Hartfield, as he was to be at home by the middle of the day. +She did not regret it. + +Having arranged all these matters, looked them through, and put them all +to rights, she was just turning to the house with spirits freshened up +for the demands of the two little boys, as well as of their grandpapa, +when the great iron sweep-gate opened, and two persons entered +whom she had never less expected to see together--Frank Churchill, +with Harriet leaning on his arm--actually Harriet!--A moment +sufficed to convince her that something extraordinary had happened. +Harriet looked white and frightened, and he was trying to cheer her.-- +The iron gates and the front-door were not twenty yards asunder;-- +they were all three soon in the hall, and Harriet immediately sinking +into a chair fainted away. + +A young lady who faints, must be recovered; questions must be answered, +and surprizes be explained. Such events are very interesting, +but the suspense of them cannot last long. A few minutes made Emma +acquainted with the whole. + +Miss Smith, and Miss Bickerton, another parlour boarder at +Mrs. Goddard's, who had been also at the ball, had walked out together, +and taken a road, the Richmond road, which, though apparently public +enough for safety, had led them into alarm.--About half a mile +beyond Highbury, making a sudden turn, and deeply shaded by elms +on each side, it became for a considerable stretch very retired; +and when the young ladies had advanced some way into it, +they had suddenly perceived at a small distance before them, +on a broader patch of greensward by the side, a party of gipsies. +A child on the watch, came towards them to beg; and Miss Bickerton, +excessively frightened, gave a great scream, and calling on Harriet +to follow her, ran up a steep bank, cleared a slight hedge at the top, +and made the best of her way by a short cut back to Highbury. +But poor Harriet could not follow. She had suffered very much +from cramp after dancing, and her first attempt to mount the bank +brought on such a return of it as made her absolutely powerless-- +and in this state, and exceedingly terrified, she had been obliged +to remain. + +How the trampers might have behaved, had the young ladies been +more courageous, must be doubtful; but such an invitation for attack +could not be resisted; and Harriet was soon assailed by half a +dozen children, headed by a stout woman and a great boy, all clamorous, +and impertinent in look, though not absolutely in word.--More and +more frightened, she immediately promised them money, and taking out +her purse, gave them a shilling, and begged them not to want more, +or to use her ill.--She was then able to walk, though but slowly, +and was moving away--but her terror and her purse were too tempting, +and she was followed, or rather surrounded, by the whole gang, +demanding more. + +In this state Frank Churchill had found her, she trembling +and conditioning, they loud and insolent. By a most fortunate +chance his leaving Highbury had been delayed so as to bring him +to her assistance at this critical moment. The pleasantness +of the morning had induced him to walk forward, and leave his +horses to meet him by another road, a mile or two beyond Highbury-- +and happening to have borrowed a pair of scissors the night before +of Miss Bates, and to have forgotten to restore them, he had +been obliged to stop at her door, and go in for a few minutes: +he was therefore later than he had intended; and being on foot, +was unseen by the whole party till almost close to them. +The terror which the woman and boy had been creating in Harriet +was then their own portion. He had left them completely frightened; +and Harriet eagerly clinging to him, and hardly able to speak, +had just strength enough to reach Hartfield, before her spirits +were quite overcome. It was his idea to bring her to Hartfield: +he had thought of no other place. + +This was the amount of the whole story,--of his communication and +of Harriet's as soon as she had recovered her senses and speech.-- +He dared not stay longer than to see her well; these several delays +left him not another minute to lose; and Emma engaging to give +assurance of her safety to Mrs. Goddard, and notice of there +being such a set of people in the neighbourhood to Mr. Knightley, +he set off, with all the grateful blessings that she could utter +for her friend and herself. + +Such an adventure as this,--a fine young man and a lovely young +woman thrown together in such a way, could hardly fail of suggesting +certain ideas to the coldest heart and the steadiest brain. +So Emma thought, at least. Could a linguist, could a grammarian, +could even a mathematician have seen what she did, have witnessed their +appearance together, and heard their history of it, without feeling +that circumstances had been at work to make them peculiarly interesting +to each other?--How much more must an imaginist, like herself, +be on fire with speculation and foresight!--especially with such +a groundwork of anticipation as her mind had already made. + +It was a very extraordinary thing! Nothing of the sort had ever +occurred before to any young ladies in the place, within her memory; +no rencontre, no alarm of the kind;--and now it had happened +to the very person, and at the very hour, when the other very +person was chancing to pass by to rescue her!--It certainly +was very extraordinary!--And knowing, as she did, the favourable +state of mind of each at this period, it struck her the more. +He was wishing to get the better of his attachment to herself, +she just recovering from her mania for Mr. Elton. It seemed as if +every thing united to promise the most interesting consequences. +It was not possible that the occurrence should not be strongly +recommending each to the other. + +In the few minutes' conversation which she had yet had with him, +while Harriet had been partially insensible, he had spoken of her terror, +her naivete, her fervour as she seized and clung to his arm, with a +sensibility amused and delighted; and just at last, after Harriet's +own account had been given, he had expressed his indignation +at the abominable folly of Miss Bickerton in the warmest terms. +Every thing was to take its natural course, however, neither impelled +nor assisted. She would not stir a step, nor drop a hint. +No, she had had enough of interference. There could be no harm +in a scheme, a mere passive scheme. It was no more than a wish. +Beyond it she would on no account proceed. + +Emma's first resolution was to keep her father from the knowledge +of what had passed,--aware of the anxiety and alarm it would occasion: +but she soon felt that concealment must be impossible. Within half +an hour it was known all over Highbury. It was the very event +to engage those who talk most, the young and the low; and all +the youth and servants in the place were soon in the happiness of +frightful news. The last night's ball seemed lost in the gipsies. +Poor Mr. Woodhouse trembled as he sat, and, as Emma had foreseen, +would scarcely be satisfied without their promising never to go +beyond the shrubbery again. It was some comfort to him that many +inquiries after himself and Miss Woodhouse (for his neighbours +knew that he loved to be inquired after), as well as Miss Smith, +were coming in during the rest of the day; and he had the pleasure +of returning for answer, that they were all very indifferent-- +which, though not exactly true, for she was perfectly well, +and Harriet not much otherwise, Emma would not interfere with. +She had an unhappy state of health in general for the child of such +a man, for she hardly knew what indisposition was; and if he did not +invent illnesses for her, she could make no figure in a message. + +The gipsies did not wait for the operations of justice; they took +themselves off in a hurry. The young ladies of Highbury might have +walked again in safety before their panic began, and the whole +history dwindled soon into a matter of little importance but to Emma +and her nephews:--in her imagination it maintained its ground, +and Henry and John were still asking every day for the story of +Harriet and the gipsies, and still tenaciously setting her right +if she varied in the slightest particular from the original recital. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +A very few days had passed after this adventure, when Harriet came +one morning to Emma with a small parcel in her hand, and after +sitting down and hesitating, thus began: + +"Miss Woodhouse--if you are at leisure--I have something that I +should like to tell you--a sort of confession to make--and then, +you know, it will be over." + +Emma was a good deal surprized; but begged her to speak. +There was a seriousness in Harriet's manner which prepared her, +quite as much as her words, for something more than ordinary. + +"It is my duty, and I am sure it is my wish," she continued, +"to have no reserves with you on this subject. As I am happily +quite an altered creature in _one_ _respect_, it is very fit that you +should have the satisfaction of knowing it. I do not want to say +more than is necessary--I am too much ashamed of having given way +as I have done, and I dare say you understand me." + +"Yes," said Emma, "I hope I do." + +"How I could so long a time be fancying myself! . . ." +cried Harriet, warmly. "It seems like madness! I can see nothing +at all extraordinary in him now.--I do not care whether I meet +him or not--except that of the two I had rather not see him-- +and indeed I would go any distance round to avoid him--but I do +not envy his wife in the least; I neither admire her nor envy her, +as I have done: she is very charming, I dare say, and all that, +but I think her very ill-tempered and disagreeable--I shall never forget +her look the other night!--However, I assure you, Miss Woodhouse, +I wish her no evil.--No, let them be ever so happy together, +it will not give me another moment's pang: and to convince you +that I have been speaking truth, I am now going to destroy--what I +ought to have destroyed long ago--what I ought never to have kept-- +I know that very well (blushing as she spoke).--However, now I +will destroy it all--and it is my particular wish to do it +in your presence, that you may see how rational I am grown. +Cannot you guess what this parcel holds?" said she, with a conscious look. + +"Not the least in the world.--Did he ever give you any thing?" + +"No--I cannot call them gifts; but they are things that I have +valued very much." + +She held the parcel towards her, and Emma read the words _Most_ +_precious_ _treasures_ on the top. Her curiosity was greatly excited. +Harriet unfolded the parcel, and she looked on with impatience. +Within abundance of silver paper was a pretty little Tunbridge-ware box, +which Harriet opened: it was well lined with the softest cotton; +but, excepting the cotton, Emma saw only a small piece of court-plaister. + +"Now," said Harriet, "you _must_ recollect." + +"No, indeed I do not." + +"Dear me! I should not have thought it possible you could forget +what passed in this very room about court-plaister, one of the very +last times we ever met in it!--It was but a very few days before I +had my sore throat--just before Mr. and Mrs. John Knightley came-- +I think the very evening.--Do not you remember his cutting his finger +with your new penknife, and your recommending court-plaister?-- +But, as you had none about you, and knew I had, you desired +me to supply him; and so I took mine out and cut him a piece; +but it was a great deal too large, and he cut it smaller, and kept +playing some time with what was left, before he gave it back to me. +And so then, in my nonsense, I could not help making a treasure of it-- +so I put it by never to be used, and looked at it now and then +as a great treat." + +"My dearest Harriet!" cried Emma, putting her hand before her face, +and jumping up, "you make me more ashamed of myself than I can bear. +Remember it? Aye, I remember it all now; all, except your saving +this relic--I knew nothing of that till this moment--but the cutting +the finger, and my recommending court-plaister, and saying I had none +about me!--Oh! my sins, my sins!--And I had plenty all the while in +my pocket!--One of my senseless tricks!--I deserve to be under a +continual blush all the rest of my life.--Well--(sitting down again)-- +go on--what else?" + +"And had you really some at hand yourself? I am sure I never +suspected it, you did it so naturally." + +"And so you actually put this piece of court-plaister by for his sake!" +said Emma, recovering from her state of shame and feeling divided +between wonder and amusement. And secretly she added to herself, +"Lord bless me! when should I ever have thought of putting by in cotton +a piece of court-plaister that Frank Churchill had been pulling about! +I never was equal to this." + +"Here," resumed Harriet, turning to her box again, "here is +something still more valuable, I mean that _has_ _been_ more valuable, +because this is what did really once belong to him, which the +court-plaister never did." + +Emma was quite eager to see this superior treasure. It was the end +of an old pencil,--the part without any lead. + +"This was really his," said Harriet.--"Do not you remember +one morning?--no, I dare say you do not. But one morning--I forget +exactly the day--but perhaps it was the Tuesday or Wednesday before +_that_ _evening_, he wanted to make a memorandum in his pocket-book; +it was about spruce-beer. Mr. Knightley had been telling him +something about brewing spruce-beer, and he wanted to put it down; +but when he took out his pencil, there was so little lead that he +soon cut it all away, and it would not do, so you lent him another, +and this was left upon the table as good for nothing. But I kept +my eye on it; and, as soon as I dared, caught it up, and never +parted with it again from that moment." + +"I do remember it," cried Emma; "I perfectly remember it.-- +Talking about spruce-beer.--Oh! yes--Mr. Knightley and I both saying we +liked it, and Mr. Elton's seeming resolved to learn to like it too. +I perfectly remember it.--Stop; Mr. Knightley was standing just here, +was not he? I have an idea he was standing just here." + +"Ah! I do not know. I cannot recollect.--It is very odd, +but I cannot recollect.--Mr. Elton was sitting here, I remember, +much about where I am now."-- + +"Well, go on." + +"Oh! that's all. I have nothing more to shew you, or to say-- +except that I am now going to throw them both behind the fire, +and I wish you to see me do it." + +"My poor dear Harriet! and have you actually found happiness +in treasuring up these things?" + +"Yes, simpleton as I was!--but I am quite ashamed of it now, and wish +I could forget as easily as I can burn them. It was very wrong +of me, you know, to keep any remembrances, after he was married. +I knew it was--but had not resolution enough to part with them." + +"But, Harriet, is it necessary to burn the court-plaister?--I have +not a word to say for the bit of old pencil, but the court-plaister +might be useful." + +"I shall be happier to burn it," replied Harriet. "It has +a disagreeable look to me. I must get rid of every thing.-- +There it goes, and there is an end, thank Heaven! of Mr. Elton." + +"And when," thought Emma, "will there be a beginning of Mr. Churchill?" + +She had soon afterwards reason to believe that the beginning was +already made, and could not but hope that the gipsy, though she had +_told_ no fortune, might be proved to have made Harriet's.--About a +fortnight after the alarm, they came to a sufficient explanation, +and quite undesignedly. Emma was not thinking of it at the moment, +which made the information she received more valuable. +She merely said, in the course of some trivial chat, "Well, Harriet, +whenever you marry I would advise you to do so and so"--and thought +no more of it, till after a minute's silence she heard Harriet +say in a very serious tone, "I shall never marry." + +Emma then looked up, and immediately saw how it was; and after a +moment's debate, as to whether it should pass unnoticed or not, replied, + +"Never marry!--This is a new resolution." + +"It is one that I shall never change, however." + +After another short hesitation, "I hope it does not proceed from-- +I hope it is not in compliment to Mr. Elton?" + +"Mr. Elton indeed!" cried Harriet indignantly.--"Oh! no"--and Emma +could just catch the words, "so superior to Mr. Elton!" + +She then took a longer time for consideration. Should she proceed +no farther?--should she let it pass, and seem to suspect nothing?-- +Perhaps Harriet might think her cold or angry if she did; +or perhaps if she were totally silent, it might only drive +Harriet into asking her to hear too much; and against any thing +like such an unreserve as had been, such an open and frequent +discussion of hopes and chances, she was perfectly resolved.-- +She believed it would be wiser for her to say and know at once, +all that she meant to say and know. Plain dealing was always best. +She had previously determined how far she would proceed, +on any application of the sort; and it would be safer for both, +to have the judicious law of her own brain laid down with speed.-- +She was decided, and thus spoke-- + +"Harriet, I will not affect to be in doubt of your meaning. +Your resolution, or rather your expectation of never marrying, +results from an idea that the person whom you might prefer, +would be too greatly your superior in situation to think of you. +Is not it so?" + +"Oh! Miss Woodhouse, believe me I have not the presumption to suppose-- +Indeed I am not so mad.--But it is a pleasure to me to admire him +at a distance--and to think of his infinite superiority to all +the rest of the world, with the gratitude, wonder, and veneration, +which are so proper, in me especially." + +"I am not at all surprized at you, Harriet. The service he rendered +you was enough to warm your heart." + +"Service! oh! it was such an inexpressible obligation!-- +The very recollection of it, and all that I felt at the time-- +when I saw him coming--his noble look--and my wretchedness before. +Such a change! In one moment such a change! From perfect misery +to perfect happiness!" + +"It is very natural. It is natural, and it is honourable.-- +Yes, honourable, I think, to chuse so well and so gratefully.-- +But that it will be a fortunate preference is more that I can promise. +I do not advise you to give way to it, Harriet. I do not by any +means engage for its being returned. Consider what you are about. +Perhaps it will be wisest in you to check your feelings while you can: +at any rate do not let them carry you far, unless you are persuaded +of his liking you. Be observant of him. Let his behaviour be the +guide of your sensations. I give you this caution now, because I +shall never speak to you again on the subject. I am determined +against all interference. Henceforward I know nothing of the matter. +Let no name ever pass our lips. We were very wrong before; +we will be cautious now.--He is your superior, no doubt, and there +do seem objections and obstacles of a very serious nature; +but yet, Harriet, more wonderful things have taken place, there have +been matches of greater disparity. But take care of yourself. +I would not have you too sanguine; though, however it may end, +be assured your raising your thoughts to _him_, is a mark of good taste +which I shall always know how to value." + +Harriet kissed her hand in silent and submissive gratitude. +Emma was very decided in thinking such an attachment no bad thing +for her friend. Its tendency would be to raise and refine her mind-- +and it must be saving her from the danger of degradation. + + + +CHAPTER V + + +In this state of schemes, and hopes, and connivance, June opened +upon Hartfield. To Highbury in general it brought no material change. +The Eltons were still talking of a visit from the Sucklings, +and of the use to be made of their barouche-landau; and Jane Fairfax +was still at her grandmother's; and as the return of the Campbells +from Ireland was again delayed, and August, instead of Midsummer, +fixed for it, she was likely to remain there full two months longer, +provided at least she were able to defeat Mrs. Elton's activity +in her service, and save herself from being hurried into a delightful +situation against her will. + +Mr. Knightley, who, for some reason best known to himself, had certainly +taken an early dislike to Frank Churchill, was only growing to dislike +him more. He began to suspect him of some double dealing in his +pursuit of Emma. That Emma was his object appeared indisputable. +Every thing declared it; his own attentions, his father's hints, +his mother-in-law's guarded silence; it was all in unison; +words, conduct, discretion, and indiscretion, told the same story. +But while so many were devoting him to Emma, and Emma herself making him +over to Harriet, Mr. Knightley began to suspect him of some inclination +to trifle with Jane Fairfax. He could not understand it; but there +were symptoms of intelligence between them--he thought so at least-- +symptoms of admiration on his side, which, having once observed, +he could not persuade himself to think entirely void of meaning, +however he might wish to escape any of Emma's errors of imagination. +_She_ was not present when the suspicion first arose. He was dining +with the Randalls family, and Jane, at the Eltons'; and he had +seen a look, more than a single look, at Miss Fairfax, which, +from the admirer of Miss Woodhouse, seemed somewhat out of place. +When he was again in their company, he could not help remembering +what he had seen; nor could he avoid observations which, unless it +were like Cowper and his fire at twilight, + +"Myself creating what I saw," + +brought him yet stronger suspicion of there being a something +of private liking, of private understanding even, between Frank +Churchill and Jane. + +He had walked up one day after dinner, as he very often did, +to spend his evening at Hartfield. Emma and Harriet were going +to walk; he joined them; and, on returning, they fell in with a +larger party, who, like themselves, judged it wisest to take their +exercise early, as the weather threatened rain; Mr. and Mrs. Weston +and their son, Miss Bates and her niece, who had accidentally met. +They all united; and, on reaching Hartfield gates, Emma, who knew it +was exactly the sort of visiting that would be welcome to her father, +pressed them all to go in and drink tea with him. The Randalls +party agreed to it immediately; and after a pretty long speech +from Miss Bates, which few persons listened to, she also found it +possible to accept dear Miss Woodhouse's most obliging invitation. + +As they were turning into the grounds, Mr. Perry passed by on horseback. +The gentlemen spoke of his horse. + +"By the bye," said Frank Churchill to Mrs. Weston presently, +"what became of Mr. Perry's plan of setting up his carriage?" + +Mrs. Weston looked surprized, and said, "I did not know that he +ever had any such plan." + +"Nay, I had it from you. You wrote me word of it three months ago." + +"Me! impossible!" + +"Indeed you did. I remember it perfectly. You mentioned it as +what was certainly to be very soon. Mrs. Perry had told somebody, +and was extremely happy about it. It was owing to _her_ persuasion, +as she thought his being out in bad weather did him a great deal +of harm. You must remember it now?" + +"Upon my word I never heard of it till this moment." + +"Never! really, never!--Bless me! how could it be?--Then I must +have dreamt it--but I was completely persuaded--Miss Smith, +you walk as if you were tired. You will not be sorry to find +yourself at home." + +"What is this?--What is this?" cried Mr. Weston, "about Perry +and a carriage? Is Perry going to set up his carriage, Frank? +I am glad he can afford it. You had it from himself, had you?" + +"No, sir," replied his son, laughing, "I seem to have had it +from nobody.--Very odd!--I really was persuaded of Mrs. Weston's +having mentioned it in one of her letters to Enscombe, many weeks ago, +with all these particulars--but as she declares she never heard +a syllable of it before, of course it must have been a dream. I am +a great dreamer. I dream of every body at Highbury when I am away-- +and when I have gone through my particular friends, then I begin +dreaming of Mr. and Mrs. Perry." + +"It is odd though," observed his father, "that you should have had such +a regular connected dream about people whom it was not very likely you +should be thinking of at Enscombe. Perry's setting up his carriage! +and his wife's persuading him to it, out of care for his health-- +just what will happen, I have no doubt, some time or other; +only a little premature. What an air of probability sometimes +runs through a dream! And at others, what a heap of absurdities +it is! Well, Frank, your dream certainly shews that Highbury is in +your thoughts when you are absent. Emma, you are a great dreamer, +I think?" + +Emma was out of hearing. She had hurried on before her guests +to prepare her father for their appearance, and was beyond the reach +of Mr. Weston's hint. + +"Why, to own the truth," cried Miss Bates, who had been trying in vain +to be heard the last two minutes, "if I must speak on this subject, +there is no denying that Mr. Frank Churchill might have--I do not +mean to say that he did not dream it--I am sure I have sometimes +the oddest dreams in the world--but if I am questioned about it, +I must acknowledge that there was such an idea last spring; +for Mrs. Perry herself mentioned it to my mother, and the Coles +knew of it as well as ourselves--but it was quite a secret, +known to nobody else, and only thought of about three days. +Mrs. Perry was very anxious that he should have a carriage, and came +to my mother in great spirits one morning because she thought she +had prevailed. Jane, don't you remember grandmama's telling us +of it when we got home? I forget where we had been walking to-- +very likely to Randalls; yes, I think it was to Randalls. +Mrs. Perry was always particularly fond of my mother--indeed I do +not know who is not--and she had mentioned it to her in confidence; +she had no objection to her telling us, of course, but it was not +to go beyond: and, from that day to this, I never mentioned it +to a soul that I know of. At the same time, I will not positively +answer for my having never dropt a hint, because I know I do +sometimes pop out a thing before I am aware. I am a talker, +you know; I am rather a talker; and now and then I have let a thing +escape me which I should not. I am not like Jane; I wish I were. +I will answer for it _she_ never betrayed the least thing in the world. +Where is she?--Oh! just behind. Perfectly remember Mrs. Perry's coming.-- +Extraordinary dream, indeed!" + +They were entering the hall. Mr. Knightley's eyes had preceded +Miss Bates's in a glance at Jane. From Frank Churchill's face, +where he thought he saw confusion suppressed or laughed away, +he had involuntarily turned to hers; but she was indeed behind, +and too busy with her shawl. Mr. Weston had walked in. The two +other gentlemen waited at the door to let her pass. Mr. Knightley +suspected in Frank Churchill the determination of catching her eye-- +he seemed watching her intently--in vain, however, if it were so-- +Jane passed between them into the hall, and looked at neither. + +There was no time for farther remark or explanation. The dream must +be borne with, and Mr. Knightley must take his seat with the rest round +the large modern circular table which Emma had introduced at Hartfield, +and which none but Emma could have had power to place there and +persuade her father to use, instead of the small-sized Pembroke, +on which two of his daily meals had, for forty years been crowded. +Tea passed pleasantly, and nobody seemed in a hurry to move. + +"Miss Woodhouse," said Frank Churchill, after examining a table +behind him, which he could reach as he sat, "have your nephews taken +away their alphabets--their box of letters? It used to stand here. +Where is it? This is a sort of dull-looking evening, that ought +to be treated rather as winter than summer. We had great amusement +with those letters one morning. I want to puzzle you again." + +Emma was pleased with the thought; and producing the box, the table +was quickly scattered over with alphabets, which no one seemed so much +disposed to employ as their two selves. They were rapidly forming +words for each other, or for any body else who would be puzzled. +The quietness of the game made it particularly eligible for +Mr. Woodhouse, who had often been distressed by the more animated sort, +which Mr. Weston had occasionally introduced, and who now sat happily +occupied in lamenting, with tender melancholy, over the departure +of the "poor little boys," or in fondly pointing out, as he took +up any stray letter near him, how beautifully Emma had written it. + +Frank Churchill placed a word before Miss Fairfax. She gave +a slight glance round the table, and applied herself to it. +Frank was next to Emma, Jane opposite to them--and Mr. Knightley +so placed as to see them all; and it was his object to see as much +as he could, with as little apparent observation. The word +was discovered, and with a faint smile pushed away. If meant +to be immediately mixed with the others, and buried from sight, +she should have looked on the table instead of looking just across, +for it was not mixed; and Harriet, eager after every fresh word, +and finding out none, directly took it up, and fell to work. +She was sitting by Mr. Knightley, and turned to him for help. +The word was _blunder_; and as Harriet exultingly proclaimed it, +there was a blush on Jane's cheek which gave it a meaning not +otherwise ostensible. Mr. Knightley connected it with the dream; +but how it could all be, was beyond his comprehension. +How the delicacy, the discretion of his favourite could have been +so lain asleep! He feared there must be some decided involvement. +Disingenuousness and double dealing seemed to meet him at every turn. +These letters were but the vehicle for gallantry and trick. +It was a child's play, chosen to conceal a deeper game on Frank +Churchill's part. + +With great indignation did he continue to observe him; with great +alarm and distrust, to observe also his two blinded companions. +He saw a short word prepared for Emma, and given to her with a look +sly and demure. He saw that Emma had soon made it out, and found +it highly entertaining, though it was something which she judged it +proper to appear to censure; for she said, "Nonsense! for shame!" +He heard Frank Churchill next say, with a glance towards Jane, +"I will give it to her--shall I?"--and as clearly heard Emma +opposing it with eager laughing warmth. "No, no, you must not; +you shall not, indeed." + +It was done however. This gallant young man, who seemed to love +without feeling, and to recommend himself without complaisance, +directly handed over the word to Miss Fairfax, and with a particular +degree of sedate civility entreated her to study it. Mr. Knightley's +excessive curiosity to know what this word might be, made him seize +every possible moment for darting his eye towards it, and it was +not long before he saw it to be _Dixon_. Jane Fairfax's perception +seemed to accompany his; her comprehension was certainly more equal +to the covert meaning, the superior intelligence, of those five letters +so arranged. She was evidently displeased; looked up, and seeing +herself watched, blushed more deeply than he had ever perceived her, +and saying only, "I did not know that proper names were allowed," +pushed away the letters with even an angry spirit, and looked +resolved to be engaged by no other word that could be offered. +Her face was averted from those who had made the attack, and turned +towards her aunt. + +"Aye, very true, my dear," cried the latter, though Jane had not +spoken a word--"I was just going to say the same thing. It is time +for us to be going indeed. The evening is closing in, and grandmama +will be looking for us. My dear sir, you are too obliging. +We really must wish you good night." + +Jane's alertness in moving, proved her as ready as her aunt +had preconceived. She was immediately up, and wanting to quit +the table; but so many were also moving, that she could not get away; +and Mr. Knightley thought he saw another collection of letters anxiously +pushed towards her, and resolutely swept away by her unexamined. +She was afterwards looking for her shawl--Frank Churchill was +looking also--it was growing dusk, and the room was in confusion; +and how they parted, Mr. Knightley could not tell. + +He remained at Hartfield after all the rest, his thoughts full +of what he had seen; so full, that when the candles came to assist +his observations, he must--yes, he certainly must, as a friend-- +an anxious friend--give Emma some hint, ask her some question. +He could not see her in a situation of such danger, without trying to +preserve her. It was his duty. + +"Pray, Emma," said he, "may I ask in what lay the great amusement, +the poignant sting of the last word given to you and Miss Fairfax? +I saw the word, and am curious to know how it could be so very +entertaining to the one, and so very distressing to the other." + +Emma was extremely confused. She could not endure to give him the +true explanation; for though her suspicions were by no means removed, +she was really ashamed of having ever imparted them. + +"Oh!" she cried in evident embarrassment, "it all meant nothing; +a mere joke among ourselves." + +"The joke," he replied gravely, "seemed confined to you +and Mr. Churchill." + +He had hoped she would speak again, but she did not. She would +rather busy herself about any thing than speak. He sat a little +while in doubt. A variety of evils crossed his mind. Interference-- +fruitless interference. Emma's confusion, and the acknowledged intimacy, +seemed to declare her affection engaged. Yet he would speak. +He owed it to her, to risk any thing that might be involved in +an unwelcome interference, rather than her welfare; to encounter +any thing, rather than the remembrance of neglect in such a cause. + +"My dear Emma," said he at last, with earnest kindness, "do you +think you perfectly understand the degree of acquaintance between +the gentleman and lady we have been speaking of?" + +"Between Mr. Frank Churchill and Miss Fairfax? Oh! yes, perfectly.-- +Why do you make a doubt of it?" + +"Have you never at any time had reason to think that he admired her, +or that she admired him?" + +"Never, never!" she cried with a most open eagerness--"Never, for +the twentieth part of a moment, did such an idea occur to me. +And how could it possibly come into your head?" + +"I have lately imagined that I saw symptoms of attachment between them-- +certain expressive looks, which I did not believe meant to be public." + +"Oh! you amuse me excessively. I am delighted to find that you +can vouchsafe to let your imagination wander--but it will not do-- +very sorry to check you in your first essay--but indeed it will +not do. There is no admiration between them, I do assure you; +and the appearances which have caught you, have arisen from some +peculiar circumstances--feelings rather of a totally different nature-- +it is impossible exactly to explain:--there is a good deal of +nonsense in it--but the part which is capable of being communicated, +which is sense, is, that they are as far from any attachment or +admiration for one another, as any two beings in the world can be. +That is, I _presume_ it to be so on her side, and I can _answer_ for its +being so on his. I will answer for the gentleman's indifference." + +She spoke with a confidence which staggered, with a satisfaction +which silenced, Mr. Knightley. She was in gay spirits, and would +have prolonged the conversation, wanting to hear the particulars +of his suspicions, every look described, and all the wheres and hows +of a circumstance which highly entertained her: but his gaiety did +not meet hers. He found he could not be useful, and his feelings +were too much irritated for talking. That he might not be irritated +into an absolute fever, by the fire which Mr. Woodhouse's tender +habits required almost every evening throughout the year, he soon +afterwards took a hasty leave, and walked home to the coolness +and solitude of Donwell Abbey. + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +After being long fed with hopes of a speedy visit from Mr. and +Mrs. Suckling, the Highbury world were obliged to endure the mortification +of hearing that they could not possibly come till the autumn. +No such importation of novelties could enrich their intellectual stores +at present. In the daily interchange of news, they must be again +restricted to the other topics with which for a while the Sucklings' +coming had been united, such as the last accounts of Mrs. Churchill, +whose health seemed every day to supply a different report, +and the situation of Mrs. Weston, whose happiness it was to be hoped +might eventually be as much increased by the arrival of a child, +as that of all her neighbours was by the approach of it. + +Mrs. Elton was very much disappointed. It was the delay of a great +deal of pleasure and parade. Her introductions and recommendations +must all wait, and every projected party be still only talked of. +So she thought at first;--but a little consideration convinced +her that every thing need not be put off. Why should not they +explore to Box Hill though the Sucklings did not come? They could +go there again with them in the autumn. It was settled that they +should go to Box Hill. That there was to be such a party had been +long generally known: it had even given the idea of another. +Emma had never been to Box Hill; she wished to see what every body +found so well worth seeing, and she and Mr. Weston had agreed +to chuse some fine morning and drive thither. Two or three more +of the chosen only were to be admitted to join them, and it was to +be done in a quiet, unpretending, elegant way, infinitely superior +to the bustle and preparation, the regular eating and drinking, +and picnic parade of the Eltons and the Sucklings. + +This was so very well understood between them, that Emma could +not but feel some surprise, and a little displeasure, on hearing +from Mr. Weston that he had been proposing to Mrs. Elton, as her +brother and sister had failed her, that the two parties should unite, +and go together; and that as Mrs. Elton had very readily acceded +to it, so it was to be, if she had no objection. Now, as her +objection was nothing but her very great dislike of Mrs. Elton, +of which Mr. Weston must already be perfectly aware, it was not worth +bringing forward again:--it could not be done without a reproof +to him, which would be giving pain to his wife; and she found +herself therefore obliged to consent to an arrangement which she +would have done a great deal to avoid; an arrangement which would +probably expose her even to the degradation of being said to be of +Mrs. Elton's party! Every feeling was offended; and the forbearance +of her outward submission left a heavy arrear due of secret severity +in her reflections on the unmanageable goodwill of Mr. Weston's temper. + +"I am glad you approve of what I have done," said he very comfortably. +"But I thought you would. Such schemes as these are nothing +without numbers. One cannot have too large a party. A large party +secures its own amusement. And she is a good-natured woman after all. +One could not leave her out." + +Emma denied none of it aloud, and agreed to none of it in private. + +It was now the middle of June, and the weather fine; and Mrs. Elton +was growing impatient to name the day, and settle with Mr. Weston +as to pigeon-pies and cold lamb, when a lame carriage-horse threw +every thing into sad uncertainty. It might be weeks, it might be +only a few days, before the horse were useable; but no preparations +could be ventured on, and it was all melancholy stagnation. +Mrs. Elton's resources were inadequate to such an attack. + +"Is not this most vexations, Knightley?" she cried.--"And such weather +for exploring!--These delays and disappointments are quite odious. +What are we to do?--The year will wear away at this rate, +and nothing done. Before this time last year I assure you we had +had a delightful exploring party from Maple Grove to Kings Weston." + +"You had better explore to Donwell," replied Mr. Knightley. +"That may be done without horses. Come, and eat my strawberries. +They are ripening fast." + +If Mr. Knightley did not begin seriously, he was obliged to proceed so, +for his proposal was caught at with delight; and the "Oh! I should +like it of all things," was not plainer in words than manner. +Donwell was famous for its strawberry-beds, which seemed a plea for +the invitation: but no plea was necessary; cabbage-beds would have +been enough to tempt the lady, who only wanted to be going somewhere. +She promised him again and again to come--much oftener than +he doubted--and was extremely gratified by such a proof of intimacy, +such a distinguishing compliment as she chose to consider it. + +"You may depend upon me," said she. "I certainly will come. +Name your day, and I will come. You will allow me to bring +Jane Fairfax?" + +"I cannot name a day," said he, "till I have spoken to some others +whom I would wish to meet you." + +"Oh! leave all that to me. Only give me a carte-blanche.--I am +Lady Patroness, you know. It is my party. I will bring friends +with me." + +"I hope you will bring Elton," said he: "but I will not trouble +you to give any other invitations." + +"Oh! now you are looking very sly. But consider--you need not be afraid +of delegating power to _me_. I am no young lady on her preferment. +Married women, you know, may be safely authorised. It is my party. +Leave it all to me. I will invite your guests." + +"No,"--he calmly replied,--"there is but one married woman in the world +whom I can ever allow to invite what guests she pleases to Donwell, +and that one is--" + +"--Mrs. Weston, I suppose," interrupted Mrs. Elton, rather mortified. + +"No--Mrs. Knightley;--and till she is in being, I will manage +such matters myself." + +"Ah! you are an odd creature!" she cried, satisfied to have no +one preferred to herself.--"You are a humourist, and may say what +you like. Quite a humourist. Well, I shall bring Jane with me-- +Jane and her aunt.--The rest I leave to you. I have no objections +at all to meeting the Hartfield family. Don't scruple. I know +you are attached to them." + +"You certainly will meet them if I can prevail; and I shall call +on Miss Bates in my way home." + +"That's quite unnecessary; I see Jane every day:--but as you like. +It is to be a morning scheme, you know, Knightley; quite a simple thing. +I shall wear a large bonnet, and bring one of my little baskets +hanging on my arm. Here,--probably this basket with pink ribbon. +Nothing can be more simple, you see. And Jane will have such another. +There is to be no form or parade--a sort of gipsy party. We are +to walk about your gardens, and gather the strawberries ourselves, +and sit under trees;--and whatever else you may like to provide, +it is to be all out of doors--a table spread in the shade, you know. +Every thing as natural and simple as possible. Is not that your idea?" + +"Not quite. My idea of the simple and the natural will be to have +the table spread in the dining-room. The nature and the simplicity +of gentlemen and ladies, with their servants and furniture, I think +is best observed by meals within doors. When you are tired of eating +strawberries in the garden, there shall be cold meat in the house." + +"Well--as you please; only don't have a great set out. And, by the bye, +can I or my housekeeper be of any use to you with our opinion?-- +Pray be sincere, Knightley. If you wish me to talk to Mrs. Hodges, +or to inspect anything--" + +"I have not the least wish for it, I thank you." + +"Well--but if any difficulties should arise, my housekeeper +is extremely clever." + +"I will answer for it, that mine thinks herself full as clever, +and would spurn any body's assistance." + +"I wish we had a donkey. The thing would be for us all to come +on donkeys, Jane, Miss Bates, and me--and my caro sposo walking by. +I really must talk to him about purchasing a donkey. In a country +life I conceive it to be a sort of necessary; for, let a woman have +ever so many resources, it is not possible for her to be always shut +up at home;--and very long walks, you know--in summer there is dust, +and in winter there is dirt." + +"You will not find either, between Donwell and Highbury. +Donwell Lane is never dusty, and now it is perfectly dry. Come on +a donkey, however, if you prefer it. You can borrow Mrs. Cole's. +I would wish every thing to be as much to your taste as possible." + +"That I am sure you would. Indeed I do you justice, my good friend. +Under that peculiar sort of dry, blunt manner, I know you have the +warmest heart. As I tell Mr. E., you are a thorough humourist.-- +Yes, believe me, Knightley, I am fully sensible of your attention +to me in the whole of this scheme. You have hit upon the very thing +to please me." + +Mr. Knightley had another reason for avoiding a table in the shade. +He wished to persuade Mr. Woodhouse, as well as Emma, to join the party; +and he knew that to have any of them sitting down out of doors +to eat would inevitably make him ill. Mr. Woodhouse must not, +under the specious pretence of a morning drive, and an hour or two +spent at Donwell, be tempted away to his misery. + +He was invited on good faith. No lurking horrors were to upbraid +him for his easy credulity. He did consent. He had not been +at Donwell for two years. "Some very fine morning, he, and Emma, +and Harriet, could go very well; and he could sit still with +Mrs. Weston, while the dear girls walked about the gardens. +He did not suppose they could be damp now, in the middle of +the day. He should like to see the old house again exceedingly, +and should be very happy to meet Mr. and Mrs. Elton, and any other +of his neighbours.--He could not see any objection at all to his, +and Emma's, and Harriet's going there some very fine morning. +He thought it very well done of Mr. Knightley to invite them-- +very kind and sensible--much cleverer than dining out.--He was not +fond of dining out." + +Mr. Knightley was fortunate in every body's most ready concurrence. +The invitation was everywhere so well received, that it seemed as if, +like Mrs. Elton, they were all taking the scheme as a particular +compliment to themselves.--Emma and Harriet professed very high +expectations of pleasure from it; and Mr. Weston, unasked, +promised to get Frank over to join them, if possible; a proof +of approbation and gratitude which could have been dispensed with.-- +Mr. Knightley was then obliged to say that he should be glad +to see him; and Mr. Weston engaged to lose no time in writing, +and spare no arguments to induce him to come. + +In the meanwhile the lame horse recovered so fast, that the party +to Box Hill was again under happy consideration; and at last Donwell +was settled for one day, and Box Hill for the next,--the weather +appearing exactly right. + +Under a bright mid-day sun, at almost Midsummer, Mr. Woodhouse +was safely conveyed in his carriage, with one window down, +to partake of this al-fresco party; and in one of the most +comfortable rooms in the Abbey, especially prepared for him by a +fire all the morning, he was happily placed, quite at his ease, +ready to talk with pleasure of what had been achieved, and advise +every body to come and sit down, and not to heat themselves.-- +Mrs. Weston, who seemed to have walked there on purpose to be tired, +and sit all the time with him, remained, when all the others +were invited or persuaded out, his patient listener and sympathiser. + +It was so long since Emma had been at the Abbey, that as soon as she +was satisfied of her father's comfort, she was glad to leave him, +and look around her; eager to refresh and correct her memory with +more particular observation, more exact understanding of a house +and grounds which must ever be so interesting to her and all her family. + +She felt all the honest pride and complacency which her alliance +with the present and future proprietor could fairly warrant, +as she viewed the respectable size and style of the building, +its suitable, becoming, characteristic situation, low and sheltered-- +its ample gardens stretching down to meadows washed by a stream, +of which the Abbey, with all the old neglect of prospect, +had scarcely a sight--and its abundance of timber in rows and avenues, +which neither fashion nor extravagance had rooted up.--The house +was larger than Hartfield, and totally unlike it, covering a good +deal of ground, rambling and irregular, with many comfortable, +and one or two handsome rooms.--It was just what it ought to be, +and it looked what it was--and Emma felt an increasing respect +for it, as the residence of a family of such true gentility, +untainted in blood and understanding.--Some faults of temper John +Knightley had; but Isabella had connected herself unexceptionably. +She had given them neither men, nor names, nor places, that could +raise a blush. These were pleasant feelings, and she walked about +and indulged them till it was necessary to do as the others did, +and collect round the strawberry-beds.--The whole party were assembled, +excepting Frank Churchill, who was expected every moment from Richmond; +and Mrs. Elton, in all her apparatus of happiness, her large bonnet +and her basket, was very ready to lead the way in gathering, +accepting, or talking--strawberries, and only strawberries, +could now be thought or spoken of.--"The best fruit in England-- +every body's favourite--always wholesome.--These the finest beds +and finest sorts.--Delightful to gather for one's self--the only way +of really enjoying them.--Morning decidedly the best time--never tired-- +every sort good--hautboy infinitely superior--no comparison-- +the others hardly eatable--hautboys very scarce--Chili preferred-- +white wood finest flavour of all--price of strawberries in London-- +abundance about Bristol--Maple Grove--cultivation--beds when to +be renewed--gardeners thinking exactly different--no general rule-- +gardeners never to be put out of their way--delicious fruit-- +only too rich to be eaten much of--inferior to cherries-- +currants more refreshing--only objection to gathering strawberries +the stooping--glaring sun--tired to death--could bear it no longer-- +must go and sit in the shade." + +Such, for half an hour, was the conversation--interrupted only +once by Mrs. Weston, who came out, in her solicitude after her +son-in-law, to inquire if he were come--and she was a little uneasy.-- +She had some fears of his horse. + +Seats tolerably in the shade were found; and now Emma was obliged +to overhear what Mrs. Elton and Jane Fairfax were talking of.-- +A situation, a most desirable situation, was in question. Mrs. Elton +had received notice of it that morning, and was in raptures. +It was not with Mrs. Suckling, it was not with Mrs. Bragge, +but in felicity and splendour it fell short only of them: it was +with a cousin of Mrs. Bragge, an acquaintance of Mrs. Suckling, +a lady known at Maple Grove. Delightful, charming, superior, +first circles, spheres, lines, ranks, every thing--and Mrs. Elton +was wild to have the offer closed with immediately.--On her side, +all was warmth, energy, and triumph--and she positively refused +to take her friend's negative, though Miss Fairfax continued +to assure her that she would not at present engage in any thing, +repeating the same motives which she had been heard to urge before.-- +Still Mrs. Elton insisted on being authorised to write an acquiescence +by the morrow's post.--How Jane could bear it at all, was astonishing +to Emma.--She did look vexed, she did speak pointedly--and at last, +with a decision of action unusual to her, proposed a removal.-- +"Should not they walk? Would not Mr. Knightley shew them the gardens-- +all the gardens?--She wished to see the whole extent."--The pertinacity +of her friend seemed more than she could bear. + +It was hot; and after walking some time over the gardens in a scattered, +dispersed way, scarcely any three together, they insensibly +followed one another to the delicious shade of a broad short +avenue of limes, which stretching beyond the garden at an equal +distance from the river, seemed the finish of the pleasure grounds.-- +It led to nothing; nothing but a view at the end over a low stone +wall with high pillars, which seemed intended, in their erection, +to give the appearance of an approach to the house, which never had +been there. Disputable, however, as might be the taste of such +a termination, it was in itself a charming walk, and the view +which closed it extremely pretty.--The considerable slope, at nearly +the foot of which the Abbey stood, gradually acquired a steeper +form beyond its grounds; and at half a mile distant was a bank +of considerable abruptness and grandeur, well clothed with wood;-- +and at the bottom of this bank, favourably placed and sheltered, +rose the Abbey Mill Farm, with meadows in front, and the river +making a close and handsome curve around it. + +It was a sweet view--sweet to the eye and the mind. English verdure, +English culture, English comfort, seen under a sun bright, +without being oppressive. + +In this walk Emma and Mr. Weston found all the others assembled; +and towards this view she immediately perceived Mr. Knightley +and Harriet distinct from the rest, quietly leading the way. +Mr. Knightley and Harriet!--It was an odd tete-a-tete; but she was +glad to see it.--There had been a time when he would have scorned +her as a companion, and turned from her with little ceremony. +Now they seemed in pleasant conversation. There had been a time +also when Emma would have been sorry to see Harriet in a spot +so favourable for the Abbey Mill Farm; but now she feared it not. +It might be safely viewed with all its appendages of prosperity +and beauty, its rich pastures, spreading flocks, orchard in blossom, +and light column of smoke ascending.--She joined them at the wall, +and found them more engaged in talking than in looking around. +He was giving Harriet information as to modes of agriculture, etc. +and Emma received a smile which seemed to say, "These are my +own concerns. I have a right to talk on such subjects, without being +suspected of introducing Robert Martin."--She did not suspect him. +It was too old a story.--Robert Martin had probably ceased to think +of Harriet.--They took a few turns together along the walk.--The shade +was most refreshing, and Emma found it the pleasantest part of +the day. + +The next remove was to the house; they must all go in and eat;-- +and they were all seated and busy, and still Frank Churchill did +not come. Mrs. Weston looked, and looked in vain. His father would +not own himself uneasy, and laughed at her fears; but she could +not be cured of wishing that he would part with his black mare. +He had expressed himself as to coming, with more than common certainty. +"His aunt was so much better, that he had not a doubt of getting +over to them."--Mrs. Churchill's state, however, as many were ready +to remind her, was liable to such sudden variation as might disappoint +her nephew in the most reasonable dependence--and Mrs. Weston +was at last persuaded to believe, or to say, that it must be +by some attack of Mrs. Churchill that he was prevented coming.-- +Emma looked at Harriet while the point was under consideration; +she behaved very well, and betrayed no emotion. + +The cold repast was over, and the party were to go out once more +to see what had not yet been seen, the old Abbey fish-ponds; +perhaps get as far as the clover, which was to be begun cutting +on the morrow, or, at any rate, have the pleasure of being hot, +and growing cool again.--Mr. Woodhouse, who had already taken +his little round in the highest part of the gardens, where no +damps from the river were imagined even by him, stirred no more; +and his daughter resolved to remain with him, that Mrs. Weston +might be persuaded away by her husband to the exercise and variety +which her spirits seemed to need. + +Mr. Knightley had done all in his power for Mr. Woodhouse's +entertainment. Books of engravings, drawers of medals, cameos, +corals, shells, and every other family collection within his cabinets, +had been prepared for his old friend, to while away the morning; +and the kindness had perfectly answered. Mr. Woodhouse had been +exceedingly well amused. Mrs. Weston had been shewing them all to him, +and now he would shew them all to Emma;--fortunate in having no other +resemblance to a child, than in a total want of taste for what he saw, +for he was slow, constant, and methodical.--Before this second looking +over was begun, however, Emma walked into the hall for the sake +of a few moments' free observation of the entrance and ground-plot +of the house--and was hardly there, when Jane Fairfax appeared, +coming quickly in from the garden, and with a look of escape.-- +Little expecting to meet Miss Woodhouse so soon, there was a start +at first; but Miss Woodhouse was the very person she was in quest of. + +"Will you be so kind," said she, "when I am missed, as to say +that I am gone home?--I am going this moment.--My aunt is not aware +how late it is, nor how long we have been absent--but I am sure we +shall be wanted, and I am determined to go directly.--I have said +nothing about it to any body. It would only be giving trouble +and distress. Some are gone to the ponds, and some to the lime walk. +Till they all come in I shall not be missed; and when they do, +will you have the goodness to say that I am gone?" + +"Certainly, if you wish it;--but you are not going to walk +to Highbury alone?" + +"Yes--what should hurt me?--I walk fast. I shall be at home +in twenty minutes." + +"But it is too far, indeed it is, to be walking quite alone. +Let my father's servant go with you.--Let me order the carriage. +It can be round in five minutes." + +"Thank you, thank you--but on no account.--I would rather walk.-- +And for _me_ to be afraid of walking alone!--I, who may so soon have +to guard others!" + +She spoke with great agitation; and Emma very feelingly replied, +"That can be no reason for your being exposed to danger now. +I must order the carriage. The heat even would be danger.--You are +fatigued already." + +"I am,"--she answered--"I am fatigued; but it is not the sort +of fatigue--quick walking will refresh me.--Miss Woodhouse, we all +know at times what it is to be wearied in spirits. Mine, I confess, +are exhausted. The greatest kindness you can shew me, will be to let +me have my own way, and only say that I am gone when it is necessary." + +Emma had not another word to oppose. She saw it all; and entering +into her feelings, promoted her quitting the house immediately, +and watched her safely off with the zeal of a friend. Her parting +look was grateful--and her parting words, "Oh! Miss Woodhouse, +the comfort of being sometimes alone!"--seemed to burst from +an overcharged heart, and to describe somewhat of the continual +endurance to be practised by her, even towards some of those who +loved her best. + +"Such a home, indeed! such an aunt!" said Emma, as she turned back +into the hall again. "I do pity you. And the more sensibility +you betray of their just horrors, the more I shall like you." + +Jane had not been gone a quarter of an hour, and they had only +accomplished some views of St. Mark's Place, Venice, when Frank +Churchill entered the room. Emma had not been thinking of him, +she had forgotten to think of him--but she was very glad to see him. +Mrs. Weston would be at ease. The black mare was blameless; +_they_ were right who had named Mrs. Churchill as the cause. +He had been detained by a temporary increase of illness in her; +a nervous seizure, which had lasted some hours--and he had quite given +up every thought of coming, till very late;--and had he known how hot +a ride he should have, and how late, with all his hurry, he must be, +he believed he should not have come at all. The heat was excessive; +he had never suffered any thing like it--almost wished he had staid +at home--nothing killed him like heat--he could bear any degree of cold, +etc., but heat was intolerable--and he sat down, at the greatest +possible distance from the slight remains of Mr. Woodhouse's fire, +looking very deplorable. + +"You will soon be cooler, if you sit still," said Emma. + +"As soon as I am cooler I shall go back again. I could very +ill be spared--but such a point had been made of my coming! +You will all be going soon I suppose; the whole party breaking up. +I met _one_ as I came--Madness in such weather!--absolute madness!" + +Emma listened, and looked, and soon perceived that Frank Churchill's +state might be best defined by the expressive phrase of being +out of humour. Some people were always cross when they were hot. +Such might be his constitution; and as she knew that eating +and drinking were often the cure of such incidental complaints, +she recommended his taking some refreshment; he would find abundance +of every thing in the dining-room--and she humanely pointed out +the door. + +"No--he should not eat. He was not hungry; it would only make +him hotter." In two minutes, however, he relented in his own favour; +and muttering something about spruce-beer, walked off. Emma returned +all her attention to her father, saying in secret-- + +"I am glad I have done being in love with him. I should not like a +man who is so soon discomposed by a hot morning. Harriet's sweet +easy temper will not mind it." + +He was gone long enough to have had a very comfortable meal, and came +back all the better--grown quite cool--and, with good manners, +like himself--able to draw a chair close to them, take an interest +in their employment; and regret, in a reasonable way, that he +should be so late. He was not in his best spirits, but seemed +trying to improve them; and, at last, made himself talk nonsense +very agreeably. They were looking over views in Swisserland. + +"As soon as my aunt gets well, I shall go abroad," said he. +"I shall never be easy till I have seen some of these places. +You will have my sketches, some time or other, to look at--or my tour +to read--or my poem. I shall do something to expose myself." + +"That may be--but not by sketches in Swisserland. You will +never go to Swisserland. Your uncle and aunt will never allow +you to leave England." + +"They may be induced to go too. A warm climate may be prescribed +for her. I have more than half an expectation of our all going abroad. +I assure you I have. I feel a strong persuasion, this morning, +that I shall soon be abroad. I ought to travel. I am tired +of doing nothing. I want a change. I am serious, Miss Woodhouse, +whatever your penetrating eyes may fancy--I am sick of England-- +and would leave it to-morrow, if I could." + +"You are sick of prosperity and indulgence. Cannot you invent +a few hardships for yourself, and be contented to stay?" + +"_I_ sick of prosperity and indulgence! You are quite mistaken. +I do not look upon myself as either prosperous or indulged. I am +thwarted in every thing material. I do not consider myself at all +a fortunate person." + +"You are not quite so miserable, though, as when you first came. +Go and eat and drink a little more, and you will do very well. +Another slice of cold meat, another draught of Madeira and water, +will make you nearly on a par with the rest of us." + +"No--I shall not stir. I shall sit by you. You are my best cure." + +"We are going to Box Hill to-morrow;--you will join us. +It is not Swisserland, but it will be something for a young +man so much in want of a change. You will stay, and go with us?" + +"No, certainly not; I shall go home in the cool of the evening." + +"But you may come again in the cool of to-morrow morning." + +"No--It will not be worth while. If I come, I shall be cross." + +"Then pray stay at Richmond." + +"But if I do, I shall be crosser still. I can never bear to think +of you all there without me." + +"These are difficulties which you must settle for yourself. +Chuse your own degree of crossness. I shall press you no more." + +The rest of the party were now returning, and all were soon collected. +With some there was great joy at the sight of Frank Churchill; +others took it very composedly; but there was a very general distress +and disturbance on Miss Fairfax's disappearance being explained. +That it was time for every body to go, concluded the subject; and with +a short final arrangement for the next day's scheme, they parted. +Frank Churchill's little inclination to exclude himself increased +so much, that his last words to Emma were, + +"Well;--if _you_ wish me to stay and join the party, I will." + +She smiled her acceptance; and nothing less than a summons from +Richmond was to take him back before the following evening. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +They had a very fine day for Box Hill; and all the other outward +circumstances of arrangement, accommodation, and punctuality, +were in favour of a pleasant party. Mr. Weston directed the whole, +officiating safely between Hartfield and the Vicarage, and every +body was in good time. Emma and Harriet went together; Miss Bates +and her niece, with the Eltons; the gentlemen on horseback. +Mrs. Weston remained with Mr. Woodhouse. Nothing was wanting +but to be happy when they got there. Seven miles were travelled +in expectation of enjoyment, and every body had a burst of admiration +on first arriving; but in the general amount of the day there +was deficiency. There was a languor, a want of spirits, a want of union, +which could not be got over. They separated too much into parties. +The Eltons walked together; Mr. Knightley took charge of Miss +Bates and Jane; and Emma and Harriet belonged to Frank Churchill. +And Mr. Weston tried, in vain, to make them harmonise better. It seemed +at first an accidental division, but it never materially varied. +Mr. and Mrs. Elton, indeed, shewed no unwillingness to mix, +and be as agreeable as they could; but during the two whole hours +that were spent on the hill, there seemed a principle of separation, +between the other parties, too strong for any fine prospects, or any +cold collation, or any cheerful Mr. Weston, to remove. + +At first it was downright dulness to Emma. She had never seen Frank +Churchill so silent and stupid. He said nothing worth hearing-- +looked without seeing--admired without intelligence--listened without +knowing what she said. While he was so dull, it was no wonder that +Harriet should be dull likewise; and they were both insufferable. + +When they all sat down it was better; to her taste a great deal better, +for Frank Churchill grew talkative and gay, making her his first object. +Every distinguishing attention that could be paid, was paid to her. +To amuse her, and be agreeable in her eyes, seemed all that he +cared for--and Emma, glad to be enlivened, not sorry to be flattered, +was gay and easy too, and gave him all the friendly encouragement, +the admission to be gallant, which she had ever given in the first +and most animating period of their acquaintance; but which now, +in her own estimation, meant nothing, though in the judgment of most +people looking on it must have had such an appearance as no English +word but flirtation could very well describe. "Mr. Frank Churchill +and Miss Woodhouse flirted together excessively." They were laying +themselves open to that very phrase--and to having it sent off +in a letter to Maple Grove by one lady, to Ireland by another. +Not that Emma was gay and thoughtless from any real felicity; +it was rather because she felt less happy than she had expected. +She laughed because she was disappointed; and though she liked him +for his attentions, and thought them all, whether in friendship, +admiration, or playfulness, extremely judicious, they were not winning +back her heart. She still intended him for her friend. + +"How much I am obliged to you," said he, "for telling me to come to-day!-- +If it had not been for you, I should certainly have lost all the +happiness of this party. I had quite determined to go away again." + +"Yes, you were very cross; and I do not know what about, +except that you were too late for the best strawberries. +I was a kinder friend than you deserved. But you were humble. +You begged hard to be commanded to come." + +"Don't say I was cross. I was fatigued. The heat overcame me." + +"It is hotter to-day." + +"Not to my feelings. I am perfectly comfortable to-day." + +"You are comfortable because you are under command." + +"Your command?--Yes." + +"Perhaps I intended you to say so, but I meant self-command. You had, +somehow or other, broken bounds yesterday, and run away from your +own management; but to-day you are got back again--and as I cannot +be always with you, it is best to believe your temper under your +own command rather than mine." + +"It comes to the same thing. I can have no self-command without +a motive. You order me, whether you speak or not. And you can +be always with me. You are always with me." + +"Dating from three o'clock yesterday. My perpetual influence +could not begin earlier, or you would not have been so much +out of humour before." + +"Three o'clock yesterday! That is your date. I thought I had seen +you first in February." + +"Your gallantry is really unanswerable. But (lowering her voice)-- +nobody speaks except ourselves, and it is rather too much to be +talking nonsense for the entertainment of seven silent people." + +"I say nothing of which I am ashamed," replied he, with lively impudence. +"I saw you first in February. Let every body on the Hill hear me if +they can. Let my accents swell to Mickleham on one side, and Dorking +on the other. I saw you first in February." And then whispering-- +"Our companions are excessively stupid. What shall we do to rouse them? +Any nonsense will serve. They _shall_ talk. Ladies and gentlemen, +I am ordered by Miss Woodhouse (who, wherever she is, presides) +to say, that she desires to know what you are all thinking of?" + +Some laughed, and answered good-humouredly. Miss Bates said a great deal; +Mrs. Elton swelled at the idea of Miss Woodhouse's presiding; +Mr. Knightley's answer was the most distinct. + +"Is Miss Woodhouse sure that she would like to hear what we are +all thinking of?" + +"Oh! no, no"--cried Emma, laughing as carelessly as she could-- +"Upon no account in the world. It is the very last thing I +would stand the brunt of just now. Let me hear any thing rather +than what you are all thinking of. I will not say quite all. +There are one or two, perhaps, (glancing at Mr. Weston and Harriet,) +whose thoughts I might not be afraid of knowing." + +"It is a sort of thing," cried Mrs. Elton emphatically, +"which _I_ should not have thought myself privileged to +inquire into. Though, perhaps, as the _Chaperon_ of the party-- +_I_ never was in any circle--exploring parties--young ladies--married women--" + +Her mutterings were chiefly to her husband; and he murmured, +in reply, + +"Very true, my love, very true. Exactly so, indeed--quite unheard of-- +but some ladies say any thing. Better pass it off as a joke. +Every body knows what is due to _you_." + +"It will not do," whispered Frank to Emma; "they are most +of them affronted. I will attack them with more address. +Ladies and gentlemen--I am ordered by Miss Woodhouse to say, that she +waives her right of knowing exactly what you may all be thinking of, +and only requires something very entertaining from each of you, +in a general way. Here are seven of you, besides myself, (who, she +is pleased to say, am very entertaining already,) and she only +demands from each of you either one thing very clever, be it prose +or verse, original or repeated--or two things moderately clever-- +or three things very dull indeed, and she engages to laugh heartily +at them all." + +"Oh! very well," exclaimed Miss Bates, "then I need not be uneasy. +`Three things very dull indeed.' That will just do for me, you know. +I shall be sure to say three dull things as soon as ever I open +my mouth, shan't I? (looking round with the most good-humoured +dependence on every body's assent)--Do not you all think I shall?" + +Emma could not resist. + +"Ah! ma'am, but there may be a difficulty. Pardon me--but you +will be limited as to number--only three at once." + +Miss Bates, deceived by the mock ceremony of her manner, did not +immediately catch her meaning; but, when it burst on her, it could +not anger, though a slight blush shewed that it could pain her. + +"Ah!--well--to be sure. Yes, I see what she means, (turning to +Mr. Knightley,) and I will try to hold my tongue. I must make +myself very disagreeable, or she would not have said such a thing +to an old friend." + +"I like your plan," cried Mr. Weston. "Agreed, agreed. I will do +my best. I am making a conundrum. How will a conundrum reckon?" + +"Low, I am afraid, sir, very low," answered his son;--"but we shall +be indulgent--especially to any one who leads the way." + +"No, no," said Emma, "it will not reckon low. A conundrum of +Mr. Weston's shall clear him and his next neighbour. Come, sir, +pray let me hear it." + +"I doubt its being very clever myself," said Mr. Weston. +"It is too much a matter of fact, but here it is.--What two letters +of the alphabet are there, that express perfection?" + +"What two letters!--express perfection! I am sure I do not know." + +"Ah! you will never guess. You, (to Emma), I am certain, will +never guess.--I will tell you.--M. and A.--Em-ma.--Do you understand?" + +Understanding and gratification came together. It might be a very +indifferent piece of wit, but Emma found a great deal to laugh +at and enjoy in it--and so did Frank and Harriet.--It did not seem +to touch the rest of the party equally; some looked very stupid +about it, and Mr. Knightley gravely said, + +"This explains the sort of clever thing that is wanted, and Mr. Weston +has done very well for himself; but he must have knocked up every +body else. _Perfection_ should not have come quite so soon." + +"Oh! for myself, I protest I must be excused," said Mrs. Elton; +"_I_ really cannot attempt--I am not at all fond of the sort of thing. +I had an acrostic once sent to me upon my own name, which I was not +at all pleased with. I knew who it came from. An abominable puppy!-- +You know who I mean (nodding to her husband). These kind of things +are very well at Christmas, when one is sitting round the fire; +but quite out of place, in my opinion, when one is exploring +about the country in summer. Miss Woodhouse must excuse me. +I am not one of those who have witty things at every body's service. +I do not pretend to be a wit. I have a great deal of vivacity +in my own way, but I really must be allowed to judge when to speak +and when to hold my tongue. Pass us, if you please, Mr. Churchill. +Pass Mr. E., Knightley, Jane, and myself. We have nothing clever to say-- +not one of us. + +"Yes, yes, pray pass _me_," added her husband, with a sort of +sneering consciousness; "_I_ have nothing to say that can entertain +Miss Woodhouse, or any other young lady. An old married man-- +quite good for nothing. Shall we walk, Augusta?" + +"With all my heart. I am really tired of exploring so long +on one spot. Come, Jane, take my other arm." + +Jane declined it, however, and the husband and wife walked off. +"Happy couple!" said Frank Churchill, as soon as they were out +of hearing:--"How well they suit one another!--Very lucky--marrying as +they did, upon an acquaintance formed only in a public place!--They only +knew each other, I think, a few weeks in Bath! Peculiarly lucky!-- +for as to any real knowledge of a person's disposition that Bath, +or any public place, can give--it is all nothing; there can be +no knowledge. It is only by seeing women in their own homes, +among their own set, just as they always are, that you can form +any just judgment. Short of that, it is all guess and luck-- +and will generally be ill-luck. How many a man has committed himself +on a short acquaintance, and rued it all the rest of his life!" + +Miss Fairfax, who had seldom spoken before, except among her +own confederates, spoke now. + +"Such things do occur, undoubtedly."--She was stopped by a cough. +Frank Churchill turned towards her to listen. + +"You were speaking," said he, gravely. She recovered her voice. + +"I was only going to observe, that though such unfortunate circumstances +do sometimes occur both to men and women, I cannot imagine them +to be very frequent. A hasty and imprudent attachment may arise-- +but there is generally time to recover from it afterwards. I would +be understood to mean, that it can be only weak, irresolute characters, +(whose happiness must be always at the mercy of chance,) +who will suffer an unfortunate acquaintance to be an inconvenience, +an oppression for ever." + +He made no answer; merely looked, and bowed in submission; and soon +afterwards said, in a lively tone, + +"Well, I have so little confidence in my own judgment, that whenever +I marry, I hope some body will chuse my wife for me. Will you? +(turning to Emma.) Will you chuse a wife for me?--I am sure I +should like any body fixed on by you. You provide for the family, +you know, (with a smile at his father). Find some body for me. +I am in no hurry. Adopt her, educate her." + +"And make her like myself." + +"By all means, if you can." + +"Very well. I undertake the commission. You shall have a charming wife." + +"She must be very lively, and have hazle eyes. I care for nothing else. +I shall go abroad for a couple of years--and when I return, +I shall come to you for my wife. Remember." + +Emma was in no danger of forgetting. It was a commission to touch every +favourite feeling. Would not Harriet be the very creature described? +Hazle eyes excepted, two years more might make her all that he wished. +He might even have Harriet in his thoughts at the moment; +who could say? Referring the education to her seemed to imply it. + +"Now, ma'am," said Jane to her aunt, "shall we join Mrs. Elton?" + +"If you please, my dear. With all my heart. I am quite ready. +I was ready to have gone with her, but this will do just as well. +We shall soon overtake her. There she is--no, that's somebody else. +That's one of the ladies in the Irish car party, not at all like her.-- +Well, I declare--" + +They walked off, followed in half a minute by Mr. Knightley. +Mr. Weston, his son, Emma, and Harriet, only remained; and the young +man's spirits now rose to a pitch almost unpleasant. Even Emma grew +tired at last of flattery and merriment, and wished herself rather +walking quietly about with any of the others, or sitting almost alone, +and quite unattended to, in tranquil observation of the beautiful +views beneath her. The appearance of the servants looking out +for them to give notice of the carriages was a joyful sight; +and even the bustle of collecting and preparing to depart, +and the solicitude of Mrs. Elton to have _her_ carriage first, +were gladly endured, in the prospect of the quiet drive home which was +to close the very questionable enjoyments of this day of pleasure. +Such another scheme, composed of so many ill-assorted people, +she hoped never to be betrayed into again. + +While waiting for the carriage, she found Mr. Knightley by her side. +He looked around, as if to see that no one were near, and then said, + +"Emma, I must once more speak to you as I have been used to do: +a privilege rather endured than allowed, perhaps, but I must still +use it. I cannot see you acting wrong, without a remonstrance. +How could you be so unfeeling to Miss Bates? How could you be so +insolent in your wit to a woman of her character, age, and situation?-- +Emma, I had not thought it possible." + +Emma recollected, blushed, was sorry, but tried to laugh it off. + +"Nay, how could I help saying what I did?--Nobody could have helped it. +It was not so very bad. I dare say she did not understand me." + +"I assure you she did. She felt your full meaning. She has talked +of it since. I wish you could have heard how she talked of it-- +with what candour and generosity. I wish you could have heard her +honouring your forbearance, in being able to pay her such attentions, +as she was for ever receiving from yourself and your father, +when her society must be so irksome." + +"Oh!" cried Emma, "I know there is not a better creature in the world: +but you must allow, that what is good and what is ridiculous are +most unfortunately blended in her." + +"They are blended," said he, "I acknowledge; and, were she prosperous, +I could allow much for the occasional prevalence of the ridiculous +over the good. Were she a woman of fortune, I would leave every +harmless absurdity to take its chance, I would not quarrel with you +for any liberties of manner. Were she your equal in situation-- +but, Emma, consider how far this is from being the case. She is poor; +she has sunk from the comforts she was born to; and, if she live +to old age, must probably sink more. Her situation should secure +your compassion. It was badly done, indeed! You, whom she had known +from an infant, whom she had seen grow up from a period when her +notice was an honour, to have you now, in thoughtless spirits, +and the pride of the moment, laugh at her, humble her--and before +her niece, too--and before others, many of whom (certainly _some_,) +would be entirely guided by _your_ treatment of her.--This is not +pleasant to you, Emma--and it is very far from pleasant to me; +but I must, I will,--I will tell you truths while I can; +satisfied with proving myself your friend by very faithful counsel, +and trusting that you will some time or other do me greater justice +than you can do now." + +While they talked, they were advancing towards the carriage; +it was ready; and, before she could speak again, he had handed her in. +He had misinterpreted the feelings which had kept her face averted, +and her tongue motionless. They were combined only of anger +against herself, mortification, and deep concern. She had not +been able to speak; and, on entering the carriage, sunk back +for a moment overcome--then reproaching herself for having taken +no leave, making no acknowledgment, parting in apparent sullenness, +she looked out with voice and hand eager to shew a difference; +but it was just too late. He had turned away, and the horses were +in motion. She continued to look back, but in vain; and soon, +with what appeared unusual speed, they were half way down the hill, +and every thing left far behind. She was vexed beyond what could +have been expressed--almost beyond what she could conceal. +Never had she felt so agitated, mortified, grieved, at any circumstance +in her life. She was most forcibly struck. The truth of this +representation there was no denying. She felt it at her heart. +How could she have been so brutal, so cruel to Miss Bates! How could +she have exposed herself to such ill opinion in any one she valued! +And how suffer him to leave her without saying one word of gratitude, +of concurrence, of common kindness! + +Time did not compose her. As she reflected more, she seemed +but to feel it more. She never had been so depressed. Happily it +was not necessary to speak. There was only Harriet, who seemed not +in spirits herself, fagged, and very willing to be silent; and Emma +felt the tears running down her cheeks almost all the way home, +without being at any trouble to check them, extraordinary as they were. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +The wretchedness of a scheme to Box Hill was in Emma's thoughts all +the evening. How it might be considered by the rest of the party, +she could not tell. They, in their different homes, and their different +ways, might be looking back on it with pleasure; but in her view it +was a morning more completely misspent, more totally bare of rational +satisfaction at the time, and more to be abhorred in recollection, +than any she had ever passed. A whole evening of back-gammon with +her father, was felicity to it. _There_, indeed, lay real pleasure, +for there she was giving up the sweetest hours of the twenty-four +to his comfort; and feeling that, unmerited as might be the degree +of his fond affection and confiding esteem, she could not, in her +general conduct, be open to any severe reproach. As a daughter, +she hoped she was not without a heart. She hoped no one could +have said to her, "How could you be so unfeeling to your father?-- +I must, I will tell you truths while I can." Miss Bates should +never again--no, never! If attention, in future, could do away +the past, she might hope to be forgiven. She had been often remiss, +her conscience told her so; remiss, perhaps, more in thought +than fact; scornful, ungracious. But it should be so no more. +In the warmth of true contrition, she would call upon her the +very next morning, and it should be the beginning, on her side, +of a regular, equal, kindly intercourse. + +She was just as determined when the morrow came, and went early, +that nothing might prevent her. It was not unlikely, she thought, +that she might see Mr. Knightley in her way; or, perhaps, he might +come in while she were paying her visit. She had no objection. +She would not be ashamed of the appearance of the penitence, so justly +and truly hers. Her eyes were towards Donwell as she walked, but she +saw him not. + +"The ladies were all at home." She had never rejoiced at the sound +before, nor ever before entered the passage, nor walked up the stairs, +with any wish of giving pleasure, but in conferring obligation, +or of deriving it, except in subsequent ridicule. + +There was a bustle on her approach; a good deal of moving and talking. +She heard Miss Bates's voice, something was to be done in a hurry; +the maid looked frightened and awkward; hoped she would be pleased +to wait a moment, and then ushered her in too soon. The aunt and +niece seemed both escaping into the adjoining room. Jane she had +a distinct glimpse of, looking extremely ill; and, before the door +had shut them out, she heard Miss Bates saying, "Well, my dear, +I shall _say_ you are laid down upon the bed, and I am sure you are +ill enough." + +Poor old Mrs. Bates, civil and humble as usual, looked as if she +did not quite understand what was going on. + +"I am afraid Jane is not very well," said she, "but I do not know; +they _tell_ me she is well. I dare say my daughter will be here presently, +Miss Woodhouse. I hope you find a chair. I wish Hetty had not gone. +I am very little able--Have you a chair, ma'am? Do you sit where +you like? I am sure she will be here presently." + +Emma seriously hoped she would. She had a moment's fear of Miss +Bates keeping away from her. But Miss Bates soon came--"Very happy +and obliged"--but Emma's conscience told her that there was not the +same cheerful volubility as before--less ease of look and manner. +A very friendly inquiry after Miss Fairfax, she hoped, might lead +the way to a return of old feelings. The touch seemed immediate. + +"Ah! Miss Woodhouse, how kind you are!--I suppose you have heard-- +and are come to give us joy. This does not seem much like joy, +indeed, in me--(twinkling away a tear or two)--but it will be +very trying for us to part with her, after having had her so long, +and she has a dreadful headache just now, writing all the morning:-- +such long letters, you know, to be written to Colonel Campbell, +and Mrs. Dixon. `My dear,' said I, `you will blind yourself'-- +for tears were in her eyes perpetually. One cannot wonder, +one cannot wonder. It is a great change; and though she is +amazingly fortunate--such a situation, I suppose, as no young woman +before ever met with on first going out--do not think us ungrateful, +Miss Woodhouse, for such surprising good fortune--(again dispersing +her tears)--but, poor dear soul! if you were to see what a headache +she has. When one is in great pain, you know one cannot feel +any blessing quite as it may deserve. She is as low as possible. +To look at her, nobody would think how delighted and happy she +is to have secured such a situation. You will excuse her not +coming to you--she is not able--she is gone into her own room-- +I want her to lie down upon the bed. `My dear,' said I, `I shall +say you are laid down upon the bed:' but, however, she is not; +she is walking about the room. But, now that she has written +her letters, she says she shall soon be well. She will be extremely +sorry to miss seeing you, Miss Woodhouse, but your kindness will +excuse her. You were kept waiting at the door--I was quite ashamed-- +but somehow there was a little bustle--for it so happened that we +had not heard the knock, and till you were on the stairs, we did +not know any body was coming. `It is only Mrs. Cole,' said I, +`depend upon it. Nobody else would come so early.' `Well,' said she, +`it must be borne some time or other, and it may as well be now.' +But then Patty came in, and said it was you. `Oh!' said I, +`it is Miss Woodhouse: I am sure you will like to see her.'-- +`I can see nobody,' said she; and up she got, and would go away; +and that was what made us keep you waiting--and extremely sorry +and ashamed we were. `If you must go, my dear,' said I, `you must, +and I will say you are laid down upon the bed.'" + +Emma was most sincerely interested. Her heart had been long growing +kinder towards Jane; and this picture of her present sufferings acted +as a cure of every former ungenerous suspicion, and left her nothing +but pity; and the remembrance of the less just and less gentle +sensations of the past, obliged her to admit that Jane might very +naturally resolve on seeing Mrs. Cole or any other steady friend, +when she might not bear to see herself. She spoke as she felt, +with earnest regret and solicitude--sincerely wishing that the +circumstances which she collected from Miss Bates to be now actually +determined on, might be as much for Miss Fairfax's advantage +and comfort as possible. "It must be a severe trial to them all. +She had understood it was to be delayed till Colonel Campbell's return." + +"So very kind!" replied Miss Bates. "But you are always kind." + +There was no bearing such an "always;" and to break through her +dreadful gratitude, Emma made the direct inquiry of-- + +"Where--may I ask?--is Miss Fairfax going?" + +"To a Mrs. Smallridge--charming woman--most superior--to have +the charge of her three little girls--delightful children. +Impossible that any situation could be more replete with comfort; +if we except, perhaps, Mrs. Suckling's own family, and Mrs. Bragge's; +but Mrs. Smallridge is intimate with both, and in the very +same neighbourhood:--lives only four miles from Maple Grove. +Jane will be only four miles from Maple Grove." + +"Mrs. Elton, I suppose, has been the person to whom Miss Fairfax owes--" + +"Yes, our good Mrs. Elton. The most indefatigable, true friend. +She would not take a denial. She would not let Jane say, `No;' for +when Jane first heard of it, (it was the day before yesterday, +the very morning we were at Donwell,) when Jane first heard of it, +she was quite decided against accepting the offer, and for the +reasons you mention; exactly as you say, she had made up her mind +to close with nothing till Colonel Campbell's return, and nothing +should induce her to enter into any engagement at present--and so she +told Mrs. Elton over and over again--and I am sure I had no more +idea that she would change her mind!--but that good Mrs. Elton, +whose judgment never fails her, saw farther than I did. It is not +every body that would have stood out in such a kind way as she did, +and refuse to take Jane's answer; but she positively declared she +would _not_ write any such denial yesterday, as Jane wished her; +she would wait--and, sure enough, yesterday evening it was all +settled that Jane should go. Quite a surprize to me! I had not +the least idea!--Jane took Mrs. Elton aside, and told her at once, +that upon thinking over the advantages of Mrs. Smallridge's situation, +she had come to the resolution of accepting it.--I did not know a word +of it till it was all settled." + +"You spent the evening with Mrs. Elton?" + +"Yes, all of us; Mrs. Elton would have us come. It was settled so, +upon the hill, while we were walking about with Mr. Knightley. +`You _must_ _all_ spend your evening with us,' said she--`I positively must +have you _all_ come.'" + +"Mr. Knightley was there too, was he?" + +"No, not Mr. Knightley; he declined it from the first; and though I +thought he would come, because Mrs. Elton declared she would not let +him off, he did not;--but my mother, and Jane, and I, were all there, +and a very agreeable evening we had. Such kind friends, you know, +Miss Woodhouse, one must always find agreeable, though every body +seemed rather fagged after the morning's party. Even pleasure, +you know, is fatiguing--and I cannot say that any of them seemed +very much to have enjoyed it. However, _I_ shall always think it +a very pleasant party, and feel extremely obliged to the kind friends +who included me in it." + +"Miss Fairfax, I suppose, though you were not aware of it, had been +making up her mind the whole day?" + +"I dare say she had." + +"Whenever the time may come, it must be unwelcome to her and all +her friends--but I hope her engagement will have every alleviation +that is possible--I mean, as to the character and manners of the family." + +"Thank you, dear Miss Woodhouse. Yes, indeed, there is every thing +in the world that can make her happy in it. Except the Sucklings +and Bragges, there is not such another nursery establishment, +so liberal and elegant, in all Mrs. Elton's acquaintance. +Mrs. Smallridge, a most delightful woman!--A style of living almost +equal to Maple Grove--and as to the children, except the little +Sucklings and little Bragges, there are not such elegant sweet +children anywhere. Jane will be treated with such regard and kindness!-- +It will be nothing but pleasure, a life of pleasure.--And her salary!-- +I really cannot venture to name her salary to you, Miss Woodhouse. +Even you, used as you are to great sums, would hardly believe that +so much could be given to a young person like Jane." + +"Ah! madam," cried Emma, "if other children are at all like what I +remember to have been myself, I should think five times the amount +of what I have ever yet heard named as a salary on such occasions, +dearly earned." + +"You are so noble in your ideas!" + +"And when is Miss Fairfax to leave you?" + +"Very soon, very soon, indeed; that's the worst of it. +Within a fortnight. Mrs. Smallridge is in a great hurry. My poor +mother does not know how to bear it. So then, I try to put it out of +her thoughts, and say, Come ma'am, do not let us think about it any more." + +"Her friends must all be sorry to lose her; and will not Colonel +and Mrs. Campbell be sorry to find that she has engaged herself +before their return?" + +"Yes; Jane says she is sure they will; but yet, this is such +a situation as she cannot feel herself justified in declining. +I was so astonished when she first told me what she had been saying +to Mrs. Elton, and when Mrs. Elton at the same moment came congratulating +me upon it! It was before tea--stay--no, it could not be before tea, +because we were just going to cards--and yet it was before tea, +because I remember thinking--Oh! no, now I recollect, now I have it; +something happened before tea, but not that. Mr. Elton was called +out of the room before tea, old John Abdy's son wanted to speak +with him. Poor old John, I have a great regard for him; he was clerk +to my poor father twenty-seven years; and now, poor old man, he is +bed-ridden, and very poorly with the rheumatic gout in his joints-- +I must go and see him to-day; and so will Jane, I am sure, if she +gets out at all. And poor John's son came to talk to Mr. Elton +about relief from the parish; he is very well to do himself, +you know, being head man at the Crown, ostler, and every thing +of that sort, but still he cannot keep his father without some help; +and so, when Mr. Elton came back, he told us what John ostler +had been telling him, and then it came out about the chaise having +been sent to Randalls to take Mr. Frank Churchill to Richmond. +That was what happened before tea. It was after tea that Jane spoke +to Mrs. Elton." + +Miss Bates would hardly give Emma time to say how perfectly +new this circumstance was to her; but as without supposing it +possible that she could be ignorant of any of the particulars +of Mr. Frank Churchill's going, she proceeded to give them all, +it was of no consequence. + +What Mr. Elton had learned from the ostler on the subject, being the +accumulation of the ostler's own knowledge, and the knowledge +of the servants at Randalls, was, that a messenger had come over +from Richmond soon after the return of the party from Box Hill-- +which messenger, however, had been no more than was expected; +and that Mr. Churchill had sent his nephew a few lines, containing, +upon the whole, a tolerable account of Mrs. Churchill, and only +wishing him not to delay coming back beyond the next morning early; +but that Mr. Frank Churchill having resolved to go home directly, +without waiting at all, and his horse seeming to have got a cold, +Tom had been sent off immediately for the Crown chaise, and the +ostler had stood out and seen it pass by, the boy going a good pace, +and driving very steady. + +There was nothing in all this either to astonish or interest, +and it caught Emma's attention only as it united with the subject +which already engaged her mind. The contrast between Mrs. Churchill's +importance in the world, and Jane Fairfax's, struck her; one was +every thing, the other nothing--and she sat musing on the difference +of woman's destiny, and quite unconscious on what her eyes were fixed, +till roused by Miss Bates's saying, + +"Aye, I see what you are thinking of, the pianoforte. What is to become +of that?--Very true. Poor dear Jane was talking of it just now.-- +`You must go,' said she. `You and I must part. You will have no +business here.--Let it stay, however,' said she; `give it houseroom +till Colonel Campbell comes back. I shall talk about it to him; +he will settle for me; he will help me out of all my difficulties.'-- +And to this day, I do believe, she knows not whether it was his +present or his daughter's." + +Now Emma was obliged to think of the pianoforte; and the remembrance +of all her former fanciful and unfair conjectures was so little pleasing, +that she soon allowed herself to believe her visit had been +long enough; and, with a repetition of every thing that she could +venture to say of the good wishes which she really felt, took leave. + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Emma's pensive meditations, as she walked home, were not interrupted; +but on entering the parlour, she found those who must rouse her. +Mr. Knightley and Harriet had arrived during her absence, and were +sitting with her father.--Mr. Knightley immediately got up, and in a +manner decidedly graver than usual, said, + +"I would not go away without seeing you, but I have no time to spare, +and therefore must now be gone directly. I am going to London, +to spend a few days with John and Isabella. Have you any thing to +send or say, besides the `love,' which nobody carries?" + +"Nothing at all. But is not this a sudden scheme?" + +"Yes--rather--I have been thinking of it some little time." + +Emma was sure he had not forgiven her; he looked unlike himself. +Time, however, she thought, would tell him that they ought to be +friends again. While he stood, as if meaning to go, but not going-- +her father began his inquiries. + +"Well, my dear, and did you get there safely?--And how did you +find my worthy old friend and her daughter?--I dare say they must +have been very much obliged to you for coming. Dear Emma has been +to call on Mrs. and Miss Bates, Mr. Knightley, as I told you before. +She is always so attentive to them!" + +Emma's colour was heightened by this unjust praise; and with a smile, +and shake of the head, which spoke much, she looked at Mr. Knightley.-- +It seemed as if there were an instantaneous impression in her favour, +as if his eyes received the truth from her's, and all that had +passed of good in her feelings were at once caught and honoured.-- +He looked at her with a glow of regard. She was warmly gratified-- +and in another moment still more so, by a little movement of +more than common friendliness on his part.--He took her hand;-- +whether she had not herself made the first motion, she could not say-- +she might, perhaps, have rather offered it--but he took her hand, +pressed it, and certainly was on the point of carrying it to his lips-- +when, from some fancy or other, he suddenly let it go.--Why he should feel +such a scruple, why he should change his mind when it was all but done, +she could not perceive.--He would have judged better, she thought, +if he had not stopped.--The intention, however, was indubitable; +and whether it was that his manners had in general so little gallantry, +or however else it happened, but she thought nothing became him more.-- +It was with him, of so simple, yet so dignified a nature.-- +She could not but recall the attempt with great satisfaction. +It spoke such perfect amity.--He left them immediately afterwards-- +gone in a moment. He always moved with the alertness of a mind which +could neither be undecided nor dilatory, but now he seemed more sudden +than usual in his disappearance. + +Emma could not regret her having gone to Miss Bates, but she wished +she had left her ten minutes earlier;--it would have been a great +pleasure to talk over Jane Fairfax's situation with Mr. Knightley.-- +Neither would she regret that he should be going to Brunswick Square, +for she knew how much his visit would be enjoyed--but it might have +happened at a better time--and to have had longer notice of it, +would have been pleasanter.--They parted thorough friends, however; +she could not be deceived as to the meaning of his countenance, +and his unfinished gallantry;--it was all done to assure her that she +had fully recovered his good opinion.--He had been sitting with them +half an hour, she found. It was a pity that she had not come +back earlier! + +In the hope of diverting her father's thoughts from the disagreeableness +of Mr. Knightley's going to London; and going so suddenly; +and going on horseback, which she knew would be all very bad; +Emma communicated her news of Jane Fairfax, and her dependence +on the effect was justified; it supplied a very useful check,-- +interested, without disturbing him. He had long made up his mind to Jane +Fairfax's going out as governess, and could talk of it cheerfully, +but Mr. Knightley's going to London had been an unexpected blow. + +"I am very glad, indeed, my dear, to hear she is to be so +comfortably settled. Mrs. Elton is very good-natured and agreeable, +and I dare say her acquaintance are just what they ought +to be. I hope it is a dry situation, and that her health +will be taken good care of. It ought to be a first object, +as I am sure poor Miss Taylor's always was with me. You know, +my dear, she is going to be to this new lady what Miss Taylor +was to us. And I hope she will be better off in one respect, +and not be induced to go away after it has been her home so long." + +The following day brought news from Richmond to throw every +thing else into the background. An express arrived at Randalls +to announce the death of Mrs. Churchill! Though her nephew +had had no particular reason to hasten back on her account, +she had not lived above six-and-thirty hours after his return. +A sudden seizure of a different nature from any thing foreboded +by her general state, had carried her off after a short struggle. +The great Mrs. Churchill was no more. + +It was felt as such things must be felt. Every body had a +degree of gravity and sorrow; tenderness towards the departed, +solicitude for the surviving friends; and, in a reasonable time, +curiosity to know where she would be buried. Goldsmith tells us, +that when lovely woman stoops to folly, she has nothing to do +but to die; and when she stoops to be disagreeable, it is equally +to be recommended as a clearer of ill-fame. Mrs. Churchill, +after being disliked at least twenty-five years, was now spoken of +with compassionate allowances. In one point she was fully justified. +She had never been admitted before to be seriously ill. The event +acquitted her of all the fancifulness, and all the selfishness +of imaginary complaints. + +"Poor Mrs. Churchill! no doubt she had been suffering a great deal: +more than any body had ever supposed--and continual pain would try +the temper. It was a sad event--a great shock--with all her faults, +what would Mr. Churchill do without her? Mr. Churchill's loss +would be dreadful indeed. Mr. Churchill would never get over it."-- +Even Mr. Weston shook his head, and looked solemn, and said, +"Ah! poor woman, who would have thought it!" and resolved, that his +mourning should be as handsome as possible; and his wife sat sighing +and moralising over her broad hems with a commiseration and good sense, +true and steady. How it would affect Frank was among the earliest +thoughts of both. It was also a very early speculation with Emma. +The character of Mrs. Churchill, the grief of her husband--her mind +glanced over them both with awe and compassion--and then rested +with lightened feelings on how Frank might be affected by the event, +how benefited, how freed. She saw in a moment all the possible good. +Now, an attachment to Harriet Smith would have nothing to encounter. +Mr. Churchill, independent of his wife, was feared by nobody; +an easy, guidable man, to be persuaded into any thing by his nephew. +All that remained to be wished was, that the nephew should form +the attachment, as, with all her goodwill in the cause, Emma could feel +no certainty of its being already formed. + +Harriet behaved extremely well on the occasion, with great self-command. +What ever she might feel of brighter hope, she betrayed nothing. Emma was +gratified, to observe such a proof in her of strengthened character, +and refrained from any allusion that might endanger its maintenance. +They spoke, therefore, of Mrs. Churchill's death with mutual forbearance. + +Short letters from Frank were received at Randalls, communicating +all that was immediately important of their state and plans. +Mr. Churchill was better than could be expected; and their +first removal, on the departure of the funeral for Yorkshire, +was to be to the house of a very old friend in Windsor, to whom +Mr. Churchill had been promising a visit the last ten years. +At present, there was nothing to be done for Harriet; good wishes +for the future were all that could yet be possible on Emma's side. + +It was a more pressing concern to shew attention to Jane Fairfax, +whose prospects were closing, while Harriet's opened, and whose +engagements now allowed of no delay in any one at Highbury, who wished +to shew her kindness--and with Emma it was grown into a first wish. +She had scarcely a stronger regret than for her past coldness; +and the person, whom she had been so many months neglecting, was now +the very one on whom she would have lavished every distinction of +regard or sympathy. She wanted to be of use to her; wanted to shew +a value for her society, and testify respect and consideration. +She resolved to prevail on her to spend a day at Hartfield. +A note was written to urge it. The invitation was refused, and by +a verbal message. "Miss Fairfax was not well enough to write;" +and when Mr. Perry called at Hartfield, the same morning, +it appeared that she was so much indisposed as to have been visited, +though against her own consent, by himself, and that she was suffering +under severe headaches, and a nervous fever to a degree, which made +him doubt the possibility of her going to Mrs. Smallridge's at the +time proposed. Her health seemed for the moment completely deranged-- +appetite quite gone--and though there were no absolutely +alarming symptoms, nothing touching the pulmonary complaint, +which was the standing apprehension of the family, Mr. Perry was +uneasy about her. He thought she had undertaken more than she +was equal to, and that she felt it so herself, though she would +not own it. Her spirits seemed overcome. Her present home, +he could not but observe, was unfavourable to a nervous disorder:-- +confined always to one room;--he could have wished it otherwise-- +and her good aunt, though his very old friend, he must acknowledge +to be not the best companion for an invalid of that description. +Her care and attention could not be questioned; they were, in fact, +only too great. He very much feared that Miss Fairfax derived more +evil than good from them. Emma listened with the warmest concern; +grieved for her more and more, and looked around eager to discover +some way of being useful. To take her--be it only an hour +or two--from her aunt, to give her change of air and scene, +and quiet rational conversation, even for an hour or two, +might do her good; and the following morning she wrote again to say, +in the most feeling language she could command, that she would +call for her in the carriage at any hour that Jane would name-- +mentioning that she had Mr. Perry's decided opinion, in favour +of such exercise for his patient. The answer was only in this +short note: + +"Miss Fairfax's compliments and thanks, but is quite unequal +to any exercise." + +Emma felt that her own note had deserved something better; but it +was impossible to quarrel with words, whose tremulous inequality +shewed indisposition so plainly, and she thought only of how she +might best counteract this unwillingness to be seen or assisted. +In spite of the answer, therefore, she ordered the carriage, and drove +to Mrs. Bates's, in the hope that Jane would be induced to join her-- +but it would not do;--Miss Bates came to the carriage door, all gratitude, +and agreeing with her most earnestly in thinking an airing might be of +the greatest service--and every thing that message could do was tried-- +but all in vain. Miss Bates was obliged to return without success; +Jane was quite unpersuadable; the mere proposal of going out +seemed to make her worse.--Emma wished she could have seen her, +and tried her own powers; but, almost before she could hint the wish, +Miss Bates made it appear that she had promised her niece on +no account to let Miss Woodhouse in. "Indeed, the truth was, +that poor dear Jane could not bear to see any body--any body at all-- +Mrs. Elton, indeed, could not be denied--and Mrs. Cole had made +such a point--and Mrs. Perry had said so much--but, except them, +Jane would really see nobody." + +Emma did not want to be classed with the Mrs. Eltons, the Mrs. Perrys, +and the Mrs. Coles, who would force themselves anywhere; +neither could she feel any right of preference herself-- +she submitted, therefore, and only questioned Miss Bates farther +as to her niece's appetite and diet, which she longed to be able +to assist. On that subject poor Miss Bates was very unhappy, +and very communicative; Jane would hardly eat any thing:-- +Mr. Perry recommended nourishing food; but every thing they could +command (and never had any body such good neighbours) was distasteful. + +Emma, on reaching home, called the housekeeper directly, to an +examination of her stores; and some arrowroot of very superior quality +was speedily despatched to Miss Bates with a most friendly note. +In half an hour the arrowroot was returned, with a thousand thanks +from Miss Bates, but "dear Jane would not be satisfied without its +being sent back; it was a thing she could not take--and, moreover, +she insisted on her saying, that she was not at all in want of any thing." + +When Emma afterwards heard that Jane Fairfax had been seen wandering +about the meadows, at some distance from Highbury, on the afternoon +of the very day on which she had, under the plea of being unequal +to any exercise, so peremptorily refused to go out with her in +the carriage, she could have no doubt--putting every thing together-- +that Jane was resolved to receive no kindness from _her_. She was sorry, +very sorry. Her heart was grieved for a state which seemed +but the more pitiable from this sort of irritation of spirits, +inconsistency of action, and inequality of powers; and it mortified +her that she was given so little credit for proper feeling, or esteemed +so little worthy as a friend: but she had the consolation of knowing +that her intentions were good, and of being able to say to herself, +that could Mr. Knightley have been privy to all her attempts +of assisting Jane Fairfax, could he even have seen into her heart, +he would not, on this occasion, have found any thing to reprove. + + + +CHAPTER X + + +One morning, about ten days after Mrs. Churchill's decease, +Emma was called downstairs to Mr. Weston, who "could not stay +five minutes, and wanted particularly to speak with her."-- +He met her at the parlour-door, and hardly asking her how she did, +in the natural key of his voice, sunk it immediately, to say, +unheard by her father, + +"Can you come to Randalls at any time this morning?--Do, if it +be possible. Mrs. Weston wants to see you. She must see you." + +"Is she unwell?" + +"No, no, not at all--only a little agitated. She would have +ordered the carriage, and come to you, but she must see you _alone_, +and that you know--(nodding towards her father)--Humph!--Can you come?" + +"Certainly. This moment, if you please. It is impossible to +refuse what you ask in such a way. But what can be the matter?-- +Is she really not ill?" + +"Depend upon me--but ask no more questions. You will know it +all in time. The most unaccountable business! But hush, hush!" + +To guess what all this meant, was impossible even for Emma. +Something really important seemed announced by his looks; +but, as her friend was well, she endeavoured not to be uneasy, +and settling it with her father, that she would take her walk now, +she and Mr. Weston were soon out of the house together and on +their way at a quick pace for Randalls. + +"Now,"--said Emma, when they were fairly beyond the sweep gates,-- +"now Mr. Weston, do let me know what has happened." + +"No, no,"--he gravely replied.--"Don't ask me. I promised my wife +to leave it all to her. She will break it to you better than I can. +Do not be impatient, Emma; it will all come out too soon." + +"Break it to me," cried Emma, standing still with terror.-- +"Good God!--Mr. Weston, tell me at once.--Something has happened +in Brunswick Square. I know it has. Tell me, I charge you tell +me this moment what it is." + +"No, indeed you are mistaken."-- + +"Mr. Weston do not trifle with me.--Consider how many of my dearest +friends are now in Brunswick Square. Which of them is it?-- +I charge you by all that is sacred, not to attempt concealment." + +"Upon my word, Emma."-- + +"Your word!--why not your honour!--why not say upon your honour, +that it has nothing to do with any of them? Good Heavens!--What can +be to be _broke_ to me, that does not relate to one of that family?" + +"Upon my honour," said he very seriously, "it does not. It is not +in the smallest degree connected with any human being of the name +of Knightley." + +Emma's courage returned, and she walked on. + +"I was wrong," he continued, "in talking of its being _broke_ to you. +I should not have used the expression. In fact, it does not concern you-- +it concerns only myself,--that is, we hope.--Humph!--In short, +my dear Emma, there is no occasion to be so uneasy about it. +I don't say that it is not a disagreeable business--but things might +be much worse.--If we walk fast, we shall soon be at Randalls." + +Emma found that she must wait; and now it required little effort. +She asked no more questions therefore, merely employed her own fancy, +and that soon pointed out to her the probability of its being some +money concern--something just come to light, of a disagreeable +nature in the circumstances of the family,--something which the late +event at Richmond had brought forward. Her fancy was very active. +Half a dozen natural children, perhaps--and poor Frank cut off!-- +This, though very undesirable, would be no matter of agony to her. +It inspired little more than an animating curiosity. + +"Who is that gentleman on horseback?" said she, as they proceeded-- +speaking more to assist Mr. Weston in keeping his secret, than with +any other view. + +"I do not know.--One of the Otways.--Not Frank;--it is not Frank, +I assure you. You will not see him. He is half way to Windsor +by this time." + +"Has your son been with you, then?" + +"Oh! yes--did not you know?--Well, well, never mind." + +For a moment he was silent; and then added, in a tone much more +guarded and demure, + +"Yes, Frank came over this morning, just to ask us how we did." + +They hurried on, and were speedily at Randalls.--"Well, my dear," +said he, as they entered the room--"I have brought her, and now +I hope you will soon be better. I shall leave you together. +There is no use in delay. I shall not be far off, if you want me."-- +And Emma distinctly heard him add, in a lower tone, before he +quitted the room,--"I have been as good as my word. She has not the +least idea." + +Mrs. Weston was looking so ill, and had an air of so much perturbation, +that Emma's uneasiness increased; and the moment they were alone, +she eagerly said, + +"What is it my dear friend? Something of a very unpleasant nature, +I find, has occurred;--do let me know directly what it is. +I have been walking all this way in complete suspense. We both +abhor suspense. Do not let mine continue longer. It will do you +good to speak of your distress, whatever it may be." + +"Have you indeed no idea?" said Mrs. Weston in a trembling voice. +"Cannot you, my dear Emma--cannot you form a guess as to what you +are to hear?" + +"So far as that it relates to Mr. Frank Churchill, I do guess." + +"You are right. It does relate to him, and I will tell you directly;" +(resuming her work, and seeming resolved against looking up.) +"He has been here this very morning, on a most extraordinary errand. +It is impossible to express our surprize. He came to speak to his +father on a subject,--to announce an attachment--" + +She stopped to breathe. Emma thought first of herself, and then +of Harriet. + +"More than an attachment, indeed," resumed Mrs. Weston; "an engagement-- +a positive engagement.--What will you say, Emma--what will any +body say, when it is known that Frank Churchill and Miss Fairfax +are engaged;--nay, that they have been long engaged!" + +Emma even jumped with surprize;--and, horror-struck, exclaimed, + +"Jane Fairfax!--Good God! You are not serious? You do not mean it?" + +"You may well be amazed," returned Mrs. Weston, still averting her eyes, +and talking on with eagerness, that Emma might have time to recover-- +"You may well be amazed. But it is even so. There has been a solemn +engagement between them ever since October--formed at Weymouth, +and kept a secret from every body. Not a creature knowing it +but themselves--neither the Campbells, nor her family, nor his.-- +It is so wonderful, that though perfectly convinced of the fact, +it is yet almost incredible to myself. I can hardly believe it.-- +I thought I knew him." + +Emma scarcely heard what was said.--Her mind was divided between +two ideas--her own former conversations with him about Miss Fairfax; +and poor Harriet;--and for some time she could only exclaim, +and require confirmation, repeated confirmation. + +"Well," said she at last, trying to recover herself; "this is a +circumstance which I must think of at least half a day, before I +can at all comprehend it. What!--engaged to her all the winter-- +before either of them came to Highbury?" + +"Engaged since October,--secretly engaged.--It has hurt me, +Emma, very much. It has hurt his father equally. _Some_ _part_ +of his conduct we cannot excuse." + +Emma pondered a moment, and then replied, "I will not pretend +_not_ to understand you; and to give you all the relief in my power, +be assured that no such effect has followed his attentions to me, +as you are apprehensive of." + +Mrs. Weston looked up, afraid to believe; but Emma's countenance +was as steady as her words. + +"That you may have less difficulty in believing this boast, of my +present perfect indifference," she continued, "I will farther tell you, +that there was a period in the early part of our acquaintance, +when I did like him, when I was very much disposed to be +attached to him--nay, was attached--and how it came to cease, +is perhaps the wonder. Fortunately, however, it did cease. +I have really for some time past, for at least these three months, +cared nothing about him. You may believe me, Mrs. Weston. +This is the simple truth." + +Mrs. Weston kissed her with tears of joy; and when she could +find utterance, assured her, that this protestation had done +her more good than any thing else in the world could do. + +"Mr. Weston will be almost as much relieved as myself," said she. +"On this point we have been wretched. It was our darling wish that you +might be attached to each other--and we were persuaded that it was so.-- +Imagine what we have been feeling on your account." + +"I have escaped; and that I should escape, may be a matter of +grateful wonder to you and myself. But this does not acquit _him_, +Mrs. Weston; and I must say, that I think him greatly to blame. +What right had he to come among us with affection and faith engaged, +and with manners so _very_ disengaged? What right had he to endeavour +to please, as he certainly did--to distinguish any one young woman with +persevering attention, as he certainly did--while he really belonged +to another?--How could he tell what mischief he might be doing?-- +How could he tell that he might not be making me in love with him?-- +very wrong, very wrong indeed." + +"From something that he said, my dear Emma, I rather imagine--" + +"And how could _she_ bear such behaviour! Composure with a witness! +to look on, while repeated attentions were offering to another woman, +before her face, and not resent it.--That is a degree of placidity, +which I can neither comprehend nor respect." + +"There were misunderstandings between them, Emma; he said +so expressly. He had not time to enter into much explanation. +He was here only a quarter of an hour, and in a state of agitation +which did not allow the full use even of the time he could stay-- +but that there had been misunderstandings he decidedly said. +The present crisis, indeed, seemed to be brought on by them; +and those misunderstandings might very possibly arise from the +impropriety of his conduct." + +"Impropriety! Oh! Mrs. Weston--it is too calm a censure. +Much, much beyond impropriety!--It has sunk him, I cannot say how +it has sunk him in my opinion. So unlike what a man should be!-- +None of that upright integrity, that strict adherence to truth +and principle, that disdain of trick and littleness, which a man +should display in every transaction of his life." + +"Nay, dear Emma, now I must take his part; for though he has been +wrong in this instance, I have known him long enough to answer +for his having many, very many, good qualities; and--" + +"Good God!" cried Emma, not attending to her.--"Mrs. Smallridge, too! +Jane actually on the point of going as governess! What could he +mean by such horrible indelicacy? To suffer her to engage herself-- +to suffer her even to think of such a measure!" + +"He knew nothing about it, Emma. On this article I can fully +acquit him. It was a private resolution of hers, not communicated +to him--or at least not communicated in a way to carry conviction.-- +Till yesterday, I know he said he was in the dark as to her plans. +They burst on him, I do not know how, but by some letter or message-- +and it was the discovery of what she was doing, of this very project +of hers, which determined him to come forward at once, own it +all to his uncle, throw himself on his kindness, and, in short, +put an end to the miserable state of concealment that had been +carrying on so long." + +Emma began to listen better. + +"I am to hear from him soon," continued Mrs. Weston. "He told me +at parting, that he should soon write; and he spoke in a manner which +seemed to promise me many particulars that could not be given now. +Let us wait, therefore, for this letter. It may bring many extenuations. +It may make many things intelligible and excusable which now are +not to be understood. Don't let us be severe, don't let us be in +a hurry to condemn him. Let us have patience. I must love him; +and now that I am satisfied on one point, the one material point, +I am sincerely anxious for its all turning out well, and ready +to hope that it may. They must both have suffered a great deal +under such a system of secresy and concealment." + +"_His_ sufferings," replied Emma dryly, "do not appear to have done +him much harm. Well, and how did Mr. Churchill take it?" + +"Most favourably for his nephew--gave his consent with scarcely +a difficulty. Conceive what the events of a week have done +in that family! While poor Mrs. Churchill lived, I suppose there +could not have been a hope, a chance, a possibility;--but scarcely +are her remains at rest in the family vault, than her husband is +persuaded to act exactly opposite to what she would have required. +What a blessing it is, when undue influence does not survive the grave!-- +He gave his consent with very little persuasion." + +"Ah!" thought Emma, "he would have done as much for Harriet." + +"This was settled last night, and Frank was off with the light +this morning. He stopped at Highbury, at the Bates's, I fancy, +some time--and then came on hither; but was in such a hurry to get +back to his uncle, to whom he is just now more necessary than ever, +that, as I tell you, he could stay with us but a quarter of an hour.-- +He was very much agitated--very much, indeed--to a degree that made +him appear quite a different creature from any thing I had ever seen +him before.--In addition to all the rest, there had been the shock of +finding her so very unwell, which he had had no previous suspicion of-- +and there was every appearance of his having been feeling a great deal." + +"And do you really believe the affair to have been carrying on +with such perfect secresy?--The Campbells, the Dixons, did none +of them know of the engagement?" + +Emma could not speak the name of Dixon without a little blush. + +"None; not one. He positively said that it had been known to no +being in the world but their two selves." + +"Well," said Emma, "I suppose we shall gradually grow reconciled +to the idea, and I wish them very happy. But I shall always +think it a very abominable sort of proceeding. What has it been +but a system of hypocrisy and deceit,--espionage, and treachery?-- +To come among us with professions of openness and simplicity; +and such a league in secret to judge us all!--Here have we been, +the whole winter and spring, completely duped, fancying ourselves +all on an equal footing of truth and honour, with two people in the +midst of us who may have been carrying round, comparing and sitting +in judgment on sentiments and words that were never meant for both +to hear.--They must take the consequence, if they have heard each +other spoken of in a way not perfectly agreeable!" + +"I am quite easy on that head," replied Mrs. Weston. "I am +very sure that I never said any thing of either to the other, +which both might not have heard." + +"You are in luck.--Your only blunder was confined to my ear, +when you imagined a certain friend of ours in love with the lady." + +"True. But as I have always had a thoroughly good opinion of Miss +Fairfax, I never could, under any blunder, have spoken ill of her; +and as to speaking ill of him, there I must have been safe." + +At this moment Mr. Weston appeared at a little distance from the window, +evidently on the watch. His wife gave him a look which invited +him in; and, while he was coming round, added, "Now, dearest Emma, +let me intreat you to say and look every thing that may set his +heart at ease, and incline him to be satisfied with the match. +Let us make the best of it--and, indeed, almost every thing may +be fairly said in her favour. It is not a connexion to gratify; +but if Mr. Churchill does not feel that, why should we? and it +may be a very fortunate circumstance for him, for Frank, I mean, +that he should have attached himself to a girl of such steadiness +of character and good judgment as I have always given her credit for-- +and still am disposed to give her credit for, in spite of this +one great deviation from the strict rule of right. And how much +may be said in her situation for even that error!" + +"Much, indeed!" cried Emma feelingly. "If a woman can ever +be excused for thinking only of herself, it is in a situation +like Jane Fairfax's.--Of such, one may almost say, that `the +world is not their's, nor the world's law.'" + +She met Mr. Weston on his entrance, with a smiling countenance, +exclaiming, + +"A very pretty trick you have been playing me, upon my word! +This was a device, I suppose, to sport with my curiosity, +and exercise my talent of guessing. But you really frightened me. +I thought you had lost half your property, at least. And here, +instead of its being a matter of condolence, it turns out to be one +of congratulation.--I congratulate you, Mr. Weston, with all my heart, +on the prospect of having one of the most lovely and accomplished +young women in England for your daughter." + +A glance or two between him and his wife, convinced him that all was +as right as this speech proclaimed; and its happy effect on his spirits +was immediate. His air and voice recovered their usual briskness: +he shook her heartily and gratefully by the hand, and entered +on the subject in a manner to prove, that he now only wanted +time and persuasion to think the engagement no very bad thing. +His companions suggested only what could palliate imprudence, +or smooth objections; and by the time they had talked it all +over together, and he had talked it all over again with Emma, +in their walk back to Hartfield, he was become perfectly reconciled, +and not far from thinking it the very best thing that Frank could +possibly have done. + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +"Harriet, poor Harriet!"--Those were the words; in them lay the +tormenting ideas which Emma could not get rid of, and which constituted +the real misery of the business to her. Frank Churchill had behaved +very ill by herself--very ill in many ways,--but it was not so much +_his_ behaviour as her _own_, which made her so angry with him. +It was the scrape which he had drawn her into on Harriet's account, +that gave the deepest hue to his offence.--Poor Harriet! to be a second +time the dupe of her misconceptions and flattery. Mr. Knightley +had spoken prophetically, when he once said, "Emma, you have been +no friend to Harriet Smith."--She was afraid she had done her nothing +but disservice.--It was true that she had not to charge herself, +in this instance as in the former, with being the sole and original +author of the mischief; with having suggested such feelings as might +otherwise never have entered Harriet's imagination; for Harriet +had acknowledged her admiration and preference of Frank Churchill +before she had ever given her a hint on the subject; but she felt +completely guilty of having encouraged what she might have repressed. +She might have prevented the indulgence and increase of such sentiments. +Her influence would have been enough. And now she was very conscious +that she ought to have prevented them.--She felt that she had been +risking her friend's happiness on most insufficient grounds. +Common sense would have directed her to tell Harriet, that she +must not allow herself to think of him, and that there were five +hundred chances to one against his ever caring for her.--"But, with +common sense," she added, "I am afraid I have had little to do." + +She was extremely angry with herself. If she could not have been +angry with Frank Churchill too, it would have been dreadful.-- +As for Jane Fairfax, she might at least relieve her feelings +from any present solicitude on her account. Harriet would +be anxiety enough; she need no longer be unhappy about Jane, +whose troubles and whose ill-health having, of course, the same origin, +must be equally under cure.--Her days of insignificance and evil +were over.--She would soon be well, and happy, and prosperous.-- +Emma could now imagine why her own attentions had been slighted. +This discovery laid many smaller matters open. No doubt it had been +from jealousy.--In Jane's eyes she had been a rival; and well might +any thing she could offer of assistance or regard be repulsed. +An airing in the Hartfield carriage would have been the rack, +and arrowroot from the Hartfield storeroom must have been poison. +She understood it all; and as far as her mind could disengage itself +from the injustice and selfishness of angry feelings, she acknowledged +that Jane Fairfax would have neither elevation nor happiness beyond +her desert. But poor Harriet was such an engrossing charge! +There was little sympathy to be spared for any body else. +Emma was sadly fearful that this second disappointment would be +more severe than the first. Considering the very superior claims +of the object, it ought; and judging by its apparently stronger effect +on Harriet's mind, producing reserve and self-command, it would.-- +She must communicate the painful truth, however, and as soon +as possible. An injunction of secresy had been among Mr. Weston's +parting words. "For the present, the whole affair was to be +completely a secret. Mr. Churchill had made a point of it, +as a token of respect to the wife he had so very recently lost; +and every body admitted it to be no more than due decorum."-- +Emma had promised; but still Harriet must be excepted. It was her +superior duty. + +In spite of her vexation, she could not help feeling it almost ridiculous, +that she should have the very same distressing and delicate office to +perform by Harriet, which Mrs. Weston had just gone through by herself. +The intelligence, which had been so anxiously announced to her, +she was now to be anxiously announcing to another. Her heart beat +quick on hearing Harriet's footstep and voice; so, she supposed, +had poor Mrs. Weston felt when _she_ was approaching Randalls. +Could the event of the disclosure bear an equal resemblance!-- +But of that, unfortunately, there could be no chance. + +"Well, Miss Woodhouse!" cried Harriet, coming eagerly into the room-- +"is not this the oddest news that ever was?" + +"What news do you mean?" replied Emma, unable to guess, by look +or voice, whether Harriet could indeed have received any hint. + +"About Jane Fairfax. Did you ever hear any thing so strange? +Oh!--you need not be afraid of owning it to me, for Mr. Weston has +told me himself. I met him just now. He told me it was to be +a great secret; and, therefore, I should not think of mentioning +it to any body but you, but he said you knew it." + +"What did Mr. Weston tell you?"--said Emma, still perplexed. + +"Oh! he told me all about it; that Jane Fairfax and Mr. Frank +Churchill are to be married, and that they have been privately +engaged to one another this long while. How very odd!" + +It was, indeed, so odd; Harriet's behaviour was so extremely odd, +that Emma did not know how to understand it. Her character appeared +absolutely changed. She seemed to propose shewing no agitation, +or disappointment, or peculiar concern in the discovery. Emma looked +at her, quite unable to speak. + +"Had you any idea," cried Harriet, "of his being in love +with her?--You, perhaps, might.--You (blushing as she spoke) +who can see into every body's heart; but nobody else--" + +"Upon my word," said Emma, "I begin to doubt my having any such talent. +Can you seriously ask me, Harriet, whether I imagined him attached +to another woman at the very time that I was--tacitly, if not openly-- +encouraging you to give way to your own feelings?--I never had +the slightest suspicion, till within the last hour, of Mr. Frank +Churchill's having the least regard for Jane Fairfax. You may be +very sure that if I had, I should have cautioned you accordingly." + +"Me!" cried Harriet, colouring, and astonished. "Why should you +caution me?--You do not think I care about Mr. Frank Churchill." + +"I am delighted to hear you speak so stoutly on the subject," +replied Emma, smiling; "but you do not mean to deny that there +was a time--and not very distant either--when you gave me reason +to understand that you did care about him?" + +"Him!--never, never. Dear Miss Woodhouse, how could you so mistake me?" +turning away distressed. + +"Harriet!" cried Emma, after a moment's pause--"What do you mean?-- +Good Heaven! what do you mean?--Mistake you!--Am I to suppose then?--" + +She could not speak another word.--Her voice was lost; and she +sat down, waiting in great terror till Harriet should answer. + +Harriet, who was standing at some distance, and with face turned +from her, did not immediately say any thing; and when she did speak, +it was in a voice nearly as agitated as Emma's. + +"I should not have thought it possible," she began, "that you +could have misunderstood me! I know we agreed never to name him-- +but considering how infinitely superior he is to every body else, +I should not have thought it possible that I could be supposed +to mean any other person. Mr. Frank Churchill, indeed! I do not +know who would ever look at him in the company of the other. +I hope I have a better taste than to think of Mr. Frank Churchill, +who is like nobody by his side. And that you should have been +so mistaken, is amazing!--I am sure, but for believing that you +entirely approved and meant to encourage me in my attachment, +I should have considered it at first too great a presumption almost, +to dare to think of him. At first, if you had not told me +that more wonderful things had happened; that there had been +matches of greater disparity (those were your very words);-- +I should not have dared to give way to--I should not have thought +it possible--But if _you_, who had been always acquainted with him--" + +"Harriet!" cried Emma, collecting herself resolutely--"Let us +understand each other now, without the possibility of farther mistake. +Are you speaking of--Mr. Knightley?" + +"To be sure I am. I never could have an idea of any body else-- +and so I thought you knew. When we talked about him, it was as clear +as possible." + +"Not quite," returned Emma, with forced calmness, "for all that +you then said, appeared to me to relate to a different person. +I could almost assert that you had _named_ Mr. Frank Churchill. +I am sure the service Mr. Frank Churchill had rendered you, +in protecting you from the gipsies, was spoken of." + +"Oh! Miss Woodhouse, how you do forget!" + +"My dear Harriet, I perfectly remember the substance of what I +said on the occasion. I told you that I did not wonder at +your attachment; that considering the service he had rendered you, +it was extremely natural:--and you agreed to it, expressing yourself +very warmly as to your sense of that service, and mentioning +even what your sensations had been in seeing him come forward +to your rescue.--The impression of it is strong on my memory." + +"Oh, dear," cried Harriet, "now I recollect what you mean; but I +was thinking of something very different at the time. It was not +the gipsies--it was not Mr. Frank Churchill that I meant. No! (with +some elevation) I was thinking of a much more precious circumstance-- +of Mr. Knightley's coming and asking me to dance, when Mr. Elton +would not stand up with me; and when there was no other partner in +the room. That was the kind action; that was the noble benevolence +and generosity; that was the service which made me begin to feel +how superior he was to every other being upon earth." + +"Good God!" cried Emma, "this has been a most unfortunate-- +most deplorable mistake!--What is to be done?" + +"You would not have encouraged me, then, if you had understood me? +At least, however, I cannot be worse off than I should have been, +if the other had been the person; and now--it _is_ possible--" + +She paused a few moments. Emma could not speak. + +"I do not wonder, Miss Woodhouse," she resumed, "that you should feel +a great difference between the two, as to me or as to any body. +You must think one five hundred million times more above me than +the other. But I hope, Miss Woodhouse, that supposing--that if-- +strange as it may appear--. But you know they were your own words, +that _more_ wonderful things had happened, matches of _greater_ disparity +had taken place than between Mr. Frank Churchill and me; and, therefore, +it seems as if such a thing even as this, may have occurred before-- +and if I should be so fortunate, beyond expression, as to-- +if Mr. Knightley should really--if _he_ does not mind the disparity, +I hope, dear Miss Woodhouse, you will not set yourself against it, +and try to put difficulties in the way. But you are too good for that, +I am sure." + +Harriet was standing at one of the windows. Emma turned round +to look at her in consternation, and hastily said, + +"Have you any idea of Mr. Knightley's returning your affection?" + +"Yes," replied Harriet modestly, but not fearfully--"I must say +that I have." + +Emma's eyes were instantly withdrawn; and she sat silently meditating, +in a fixed attitude, for a few minutes. A few minutes were sufficient +for making her acquainted with her own heart. A mind like hers, +once opening to suspicion, made rapid progress. She touched-- +she admitted--she acknowledged the whole truth. Why was it +so much worse that Harriet should be in love with Mr. Knightley, +than with Frank Churchill? Why was the evil so dreadfully increased +by Harriet's having some hope of a return? It darted through her, +with the speed of an arrow, that Mr. Knightley must marry no one +but herself! + +Her own conduct, as well as her own heart, was before her in the +same few minutes. She saw it all with a clearness which had +never blessed her before. How improperly had she been acting +by Harriet! How inconsiderate, how indelicate, how irrational, +how unfeeling had been her conduct! What blindness, what madness, +had led her on! It struck her with dreadful force, and she +was ready to give it every bad name in the world. Some portion +of respect for herself, however, in spite of all these demerits-- +some concern for her own appearance, and a strong sense of justice +by Harriet--(there would be no need of _compassion_ to the girl +who believed herself loved by Mr. Knightley--but justice required +that she should not be made unhappy by any coldness now,) +gave Emma the resolution to sit and endure farther with calmness, +with even apparent kindness.--For her own advantage indeed, it was fit +that the utmost extent of Harriet's hopes should be enquired into; +and Harriet had done nothing to forfeit the regard and interest +which had been so voluntarily formed and maintained--or to deserve +to be slighted by the person, whose counsels had never led her right.-- +Rousing from reflection, therefore, and subduing her emotion, +she turned to Harriet again, and, in a more inviting accent, renewed +the conversation; for as to the subject which had first introduced it, +the wonderful story of Jane Fairfax, that was quite sunk and lost.-- +Neither of them thought but of Mr. Knightley and themselves. + +Harriet, who had been standing in no unhappy reverie, was yet very glad +to be called from it, by the now encouraging manner of such a judge, +and such a friend as Miss Woodhouse, and only wanted invitation, +to give the history of her hopes with great, though trembling +delight.--Emma's tremblings as she asked, and as she listened, +were better concealed than Harriet's, but they were not less. +Her voice was not unsteady; but her mind was in all the perturbation +that such a development of self, such a burst of threatening evil, +such a confusion of sudden and perplexing emotions, must create.-- +She listened with much inward suffering, but with great outward +patience, to Harriet's detail.--Methodical, or well arranged, +or very well delivered, it could not be expected to be; +but it contained, when separated from all the feebleness and +tautology of the narration, a substance to sink her spirit-- +especially with the corroborating circumstances, which her own memory +brought in favour of Mr. Knightley's most improved opinion of Harriet. + +Harriet had been conscious of a difference in his behaviour ever since +those two decisive dances.--Emma knew that he had, on that occasion, +found her much superior to his expectation. From that evening, +or at least from the time of Miss Woodhouse's encouraging her +to think of him, Harriet had begun to be sensible of his talking +to her much more than he had been used to do, and of his having +indeed quite a different manner towards her; a manner of kindness +and sweetness!--Latterly she had been more and more aware of it. +When they had been all walking together, he had so often come and walked +by her, and talked so very delightfully!--He seemed to want to be +acquainted with her. Emma knew it to have been very much the case. +She had often observed the change, to almost the same extent.-- +Harriet repeated expressions of approbation and praise from him-- +and Emma felt them to be in the closest agreement with what she had +known of his opinion of Harriet. He praised her for being without +art or affectation, for having simple, honest, generous, feelings.-- +She knew that he saw such recommendations in Harriet; he had dwelt +on them to her more than once.--Much that lived in Harriet's memory, +many little particulars of the notice she had received from him, a look, +a speech, a removal from one chair to another, a compliment implied, +a preference inferred, had been unnoticed, because unsuspected, +by Emma. Circumstances that might swell to half an hour's relation, +and contained multiplied proofs to her who had seen them, had passed +undiscerned by her who now heard them; but the two latest occurrences +to be mentioned, the two of strongest promise to Harriet, were not +without some degree of witness from Emma herself.--The first, +was his walking with her apart from the others, in the lime-walk +at Donwell, where they had been walking some time before Emma came, +and he had taken pains (as she was convinced) to draw her from +the rest to himself--and at first, he had talked to her in a more +particular way than he had ever done before, in a very particular +way indeed!--(Harriet could not recall it without a blush.) He seemed +to be almost asking her, whether her affections were engaged.-- +But as soon as she (Miss Woodhouse) appeared likely to join them, +he changed the subject, and began talking about farming:-- +The second, was his having sat talking with her nearly half an hour +before Emma came back from her visit, the very last morning of his +being at Hartfield--though, when he first came in, he had said +that he could not stay five minutes--and his having told her, +during their conversation, that though he must go to London, +it was very much against his inclination that he left home at all, +which was much more (as Emma felt) than he had acknowledged to _her_. +The superior degree of confidence towards Harriet, which this one +article marked, gave her severe pain. + +On the subject of the first of the two circumstances, she did, +after a little reflection, venture the following question. +"Might he not?--Is not it possible, that when enquiring, as you thought, +into the state of your affections, he might be alluding to Mr. Martin-- +he might have Mr. Martin's interest in view? But Harriet rejected +the suspicion with spirit. + +"Mr. Martin! No indeed!--There was not a hint of Mr. Martin. +I hope I know better now, than to care for Mr. Martin, or to be +suspected of it." + +When Harriet had closed her evidence, she appealed to her dear +Miss Woodhouse, to say whether she had not good ground for hope. + +"I never should have presumed to think of it at first," said she, +"but for you. You told me to observe him carefully, and let +his behaviour be the rule of mine--and so I have. But now I seem +to feel that I may deserve him; and that if he does chuse me, +it will not be any thing so very wonderful." + +The bitter feelings occasioned by this speech, the many bitter +feelings, made the utmost exertion necessary on Emma's side, +to enable her to say on reply, + +"Harriet, I will only venture to declare, that Mr. Knightley is +the last man in the world, who would intentionally give any woman +the idea of his feeling for her more than he really does." + +Harriet seemed ready to worship her friend for a sentence so satisfactory; +and Emma was only saved from raptures and fondness, which at +that moment would have been dreadful penance, by the sound of her +father's footsteps. He was coming through the hall. Harriet was +too much agitated to encounter him. "She could not compose herself-- +Mr. Woodhouse would be alarmed--she had better go;"--with most ready +encouragement from her friend, therefore, she passed off through +another door--and the moment she was gone, this was the spontaneous +burst of Emma's feelings: "Oh God! that I had never seen her!" + +The rest of the day, the following night, were hardly enough +for her thoughts.--She was bewildered amidst the confusion +of all that had rushed on her within the last few hours. +Every moment had brought a fresh surprize; and every surprize +must be matter of humiliation to her.--How to understand it all! +How to understand the deceptions she had been thus practising +on herself, and living under!--The blunders, the blindness of her +own head and heart!--she sat still, she walked about, she tried her +own room, she tried the shrubbery--in every place, every posture, +she perceived that she had acted most weakly; that she had been imposed +on by others in a most mortifying degree; that she had been imposing +on herself in a degree yet more mortifying; that she was wretched, +and should probably find this day but the beginning of wretchedness. + +To understand, thoroughly understand her own heart, was the +first endeavour. To that point went every leisure moment which her +father's claims on her allowed, and every moment of involuntary +absence of mind. + +How long had Mr. Knightley been so dear to her, as every feeling +declared him now to be? When had his influence, such influence begun?-- +When had he succeeded to that place in her affection, which Frank +Churchill had once, for a short period, occupied?--She looked back; +she compared the two--compared them, as they had always stood in +her estimation, from the time of the latter's becoming known to her-- +and as they must at any time have been compared by her, had it-- +oh! had it, by any blessed felicity, occurred to her, to institute +the comparison.--She saw that there never had been a time when she +did not consider Mr. Knightley as infinitely the superior, or when +his regard for her had not been infinitely the most dear. She saw, +that in persuading herself, in fancying, in acting to the contrary, +she had been entirely under a delusion, totally ignorant of her +own heart--and, in short, that she had never really cared for Frank +Churchill at all! + +This was the conclusion of the first series of reflection. +This was the knowledge of herself, on the first question of inquiry, +which she reached; and without being long in reaching it.-- +She was most sorrowfully indignant; ashamed of every sensation +but the one revealed to her--her affection for Mr. Knightley.-- +Every other part of her mind was disgusting. + +With insufferable vanity had she believed herself in the secret of every +body's feelings; with unpardonable arrogance proposed to arrange every +body's destiny. She was proved to have been universally mistaken; +and she had not quite done nothing--for she had done mischief. +She had brought evil on Harriet, on herself, and she too much feared, +on Mr. Knightley.--Were this most unequal of all connexions to +take place, on her must rest all the reproach of having given it +a beginning; for his attachment, she must believe to be produced only +by a consciousness of Harriet's;--and even were this not the case, +he would never have known Harriet at all but for her folly. + +Mr. Knightley and Harriet Smith!--It was a union to distance every +wonder of the kind.--The attachment of Frank Churchill and Jane +Fairfax became commonplace, threadbare, stale in the comparison, +exciting no surprize, presenting no disparity, affording nothing +to be said or thought.--Mr. Knightley and Harriet Smith!--Such an +elevation on her side! Such a debasement on his! It was horrible +to Emma to think how it must sink him in the general opinion, +to foresee the smiles, the sneers, the merriment it would prompt at +his expense; the mortification and disdain of his brother, the thousand +inconveniences to himself.--Could it be?--No; it was impossible. +And yet it was far, very far, from impossible.--Was it a new +circumstance for a man of first-rate abilities to be captivated by +very inferior powers? Was it new for one, perhaps too busy to seek, +to be the prize of a girl who would seek him?--Was it new for any +thing in this world to be unequal, inconsistent, incongruous--or for +chance and circumstance (as second causes) to direct the human fate? + +Oh! had she never brought Harriet forward! Had she left her where +she ought, and where he had told her she ought!--Had she not, +with a folly which no tongue could express, prevented her marrying +the unexceptionable young man who would have made her happy +and respectable in the line of life to which she ought to belong-- +all would have been safe; none of this dreadful sequel would have been. + +How Harriet could ever have had the presumption to raise +her thoughts to Mr. Knightley!--How she could dare to fancy +herself the chosen of such a man till actually assured of it!-- +But Harriet was less humble, had fewer scruples than formerly.-- +Her inferiority, whether of mind or situation, seemed little felt.-- +She had seemed more sensible of Mr. Elton's being to stoop +in marrying her, than she now seemed of Mr. Knightley's.-- +Alas! was not that her own doing too? Who had been at pains to give +Harriet notions of self-consequence but herself?--Who but herself +had taught her, that she was to elevate herself if possible, +and that her claims were great to a high worldly establishment?-- +If Harriet, from being humble, were grown vain, it was her doing too. + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Till now that she was threatened with its loss, Emma had never known +how much of her happiness depended on being _first_ with Mr. Knightley, +first in interest and affection.--Satisfied that it was so, +and feeling it her due, she had enjoyed it without reflection; +and only in the dread of being supplanted, found how inexpressibly +important it had been.--Long, very long, she felt she had been first; +for, having no female connexions of his own, there had been +only Isabella whose claims could be compared with hers, and she +had always known exactly how far he loved and esteemed Isabella. +She had herself been first with him for many years past. +She had not deserved it; she had often been negligent or perverse, +slighting his advice, or even wilfully opposing him, insensible of +half his merits, and quarrelling with him because he would not +acknowledge her false and insolent estimate of her own--but still, +from family attachment and habit, and thorough excellence of mind, +he had loved her, and watched over her from a girl, with an endeavour +to improve her, and an anxiety for her doing right, which no +other creature had at all shared. In spite of all her faults, +she knew she was dear to him; might she not say, very dear?-- +When the suggestions of hope, however, which must follow here, +presented themselves, she could not presume to indulge them. +Harriet Smith might think herself not unworthy of being peculiarly, +exclusively, passionately loved by Mr. Knightley. _She_ could not. +She could not flatter herself with any idea of blindness in his attachment +to _her_. She had received a very recent proof of its impartiality.-- +How shocked had he been by her behaviour to Miss Bates! How directly, +how strongly had he expressed himself to her on the subject!--Not too +strongly for the offence--but far, far too strongly to issue from +any feeling softer than upright justice and clear-sighted goodwill.-- +She had no hope, nothing to deserve the name of hope, that he could +have that sort of affection for herself which was now in question; +but there was a hope (at times a slight one, at times much stronger,) +that Harriet might have deceived herself, and be overrating his +regard for _her_.--Wish it she must, for his sake--be the consequence +nothing to herself, but his remaining single all his life. +Could she be secure of that, indeed, of his never marrying at all, +she believed she should be perfectly satisfied.--Let him but continue +the same Mr. Knightley to her and her father, the same Mr. Knightley +to all the world; let Donwell and Hartfield lose none of their +precious intercourse of friendship and confidence, and her peace +would be fully secured.--Marriage, in fact, would not do for her. +It would be incompatible with what she owed to her father, and with +what she felt for him. Nothing should separate her from her father. +She would not marry, even if she were asked by Mr. Knightley. + +It must be her ardent wish that Harriet might be disappointed; +and she hoped, that when able to see them together again, she might at +least be able to ascertain what the chances for it were.--She should +see them henceforward with the closest observance; and wretchedly +as she had hitherto misunderstood even those she was watching, +she did not know how to admit that she could be blinded here.-- +He was expected back every day. The power of observation would be +soon given--frightfully soon it appeared when her thoughts were in +one course. In the meanwhile, she resolved against seeing Harriet.-- +It would do neither of them good, it would do the subject no good, +to be talking of it farther.--She was resolved not to be convinced, +as long as she could doubt, and yet had no authority for opposing +Harriet's confidence. To talk would be only to irritate.--She wrote +to her, therefore, kindly, but decisively, to beg that she would not, +at present, come to Hartfield; acknowledging it to be her conviction, +that all farther confidential discussion of _one_ topic had better +be avoided; and hoping, that if a few days were allowed to pass before +they met again, except in the company of others--she objected only +to a tete-a-tete--they might be able to act as if they had forgotten +the conversation of yesterday.--Harriet submitted, and approved, +and was grateful. + +This point was just arranged, when a visitor arrived to tear Emma's +thoughts a little from the one subject which had engrossed them, +sleeping or waking, the last twenty-four hours--Mrs. Weston, who had +been calling on her daughter-in-law elect, and took Hartfield in her +way home, almost as much in duty to Emma as in pleasure to herself, +to relate all the particulars of so interesting an interview. + +Mr. Weston had accompanied her to Mrs. Bates's, and gone through his +share of this essential attention most handsomely; but she having +then induced Miss Fairfax to join her in an airing, was now returned +with much more to say, and much more to say with satisfaction, +than a quarter of an hour spent in Mrs. Bates's parlour, with all +the encumbrance of awkward feelings, could have afforded. + +A little curiosity Emma had; and she made the most of it while +her friend related. Mrs. Weston had set off to pay the visit +in a good deal of agitation herself; and in the first place had +wished not to go at all at present, to be allowed merely to write +to Miss Fairfax instead, and to defer this ceremonious call till +a little time had passed, and Mr. Churchill could be reconciled +to the engagement's becoming known; as, considering every thing, +she thought such a visit could not be paid without leading to reports:-- +but Mr. Weston had thought differently; he was extremely anxious +to shew his approbation to Miss Fairfax and her family, and did not +conceive that any suspicion could be excited by it; or if it were, +that it would be of any consequence; for "such things," he observed, +"always got about." Emma smiled, and felt that Mr. Weston had +very good reason for saying so. They had gone, in short--and very +great had been the evident distress and confusion of the lady. +She had hardly been able to speak a word, and every look and action +had shewn how deeply she was suffering from consciousness. The quiet, +heart-felt satisfaction of the old lady, and the rapturous delight +of her daughter--who proved even too joyous to talk as usual, +had been a gratifying, yet almost an affecting, scene. They were +both so truly respectable in their happiness, so disinterested +in every sensation; thought so much of Jane; so much of every body, +and so little of themselves, that every kindly feeling was at work +for them. Miss Fairfax's recent illness had offered a fair plea +for Mrs. Weston to invite her to an airing; she had drawn back and +declined at first, but, on being pressed had yielded; and, in the +course of their drive, Mrs. Weston had, by gentle encouragement, +overcome so much of her embarrassment, as to bring her to converse +on the important subject. Apologies for her seemingly ungracious +silence in their first reception, and the warmest expressions of the +gratitude she was always feeling towards herself and Mr. Weston, +must necessarily open the cause; but when these effusions were put by, +they had talked a good deal of the present and of the future state +of the engagement. Mrs. Weston was convinced that such conversation +must be the greatest relief to her companion, pent up within her own +mind as every thing had so long been, and was very much pleased +with all that she had said on the subject. + +"On the misery of what she had suffered, during the concealment +of so many months," continued Mrs. Weston, "she was energetic. +This was one of her expressions. `I will not say, that since I +entered into the engagement I have not had some happy moments; but I +can say, that I have never known the blessing of one tranquil hour:'-- +and the quivering lip, Emma, which uttered it, was an attestation +that I felt at my heart." + +"Poor girl!" said Emma. "She thinks herself wrong, then, for having +consented to a private engagement?" + +"Wrong! No one, I believe, can blame her more than she is disposed +to blame herself. `The consequence,' said she, `has been a state +of perpetual suffering to me; and so it ought. But after all the +punishment that misconduct can bring, it is still not less misconduct. +Pain is no expiation. I never can be blameless. I have been acting +contrary to all my sense of right; and the fortunate turn that every +thing has taken, and the kindness I am now receiving, is what my +conscience tells me ought not to be.' `Do not imagine, madam,' +she continued, `that I was taught wrong. Do not let any reflection +fall on the principles or the care of the friends who brought +me up. The error has been all my own; and I do assure you that, +with all the excuse that present circumstances may appear to give, +I shall yet dread making the story known to Colonel Campbell.'" + +"Poor girl!" said Emma again. "She loves him then excessively, +I suppose. It must have been from attachment only, that she could +be led to form the engagement. Her affection must have overpowered +her judgment." + +"Yes, I have no doubt of her being extremely attached to him." + +"I am afraid," returned Emma, sighing, "that I must often have +contributed to make her unhappy." + +"On your side, my love, it was very innocently done. But she +probably had something of that in her thoughts, when alluding +to the misunderstandings which he had given us hints of before. +One natural consequence of the evil she had involved herself in," +she said, "was that of making her _unreasonable_. The consciousness +of having done amiss, had exposed her to a thousand inquietudes, +and made her captious and irritable to a degree that must have been-- +that had been--hard for him to bear. `I did not make the allowances,' +said she, `which I ought to have done, for his temper and spirits-- +his delightful spirits, and that gaiety, that playfulness +of disposition, which, under any other circumstances, would, I am sure, +have been as constantly bewitching to me, as they were at first.' +She then began to speak of you, and of the great kindness you +had shewn her during her illness; and with a blush which shewed me +how it was all connected, desired me, whenever I had an opportunity, +to thank you--I could not thank you too much--for every wish and +every endeavour to do her good. She was sensible that you had never +received any proper acknowledgment from herself." + +"If I did not know her to be happy now," said Emma, seriously, +"which, in spite of every little drawback from her scrupulous +conscience, she must be, I could not bear these thanks;--for, oh! +Mrs. Weston, if there were an account drawn up of the evil +and the good I have done Miss Fairfax!--Well (checking herself, +and trying to be more lively), this is all to be forgotten. +You are very kind to bring me these interesting particulars. +They shew her to the greatest advantage. I am sure she is very good-- +I hope she will be very happy. It is fit that the fortune +should be on his side, for I think the merit will be all on hers." + +Such a conclusion could not pass unanswered by Mrs. Weston. +She thought well of Frank in almost every respect; and, what was more, +she loved him very much, and her defence was, therefore, earnest. +She talked with a great deal of reason, and at least equal affection-- +but she had too much to urge for Emma's attention; it was soon gone +to Brunswick Square or to Donwell; she forgot to attempt to listen; +and when Mrs. Weston ended with, "We have not yet had the letter +we are so anxious for, you know, but I hope it will soon come," +she was obliged to pause before she answered, and at last obliged +to answer at random, before she could at all recollect what letter it +was which they were so anxious for. + +"Are you well, my Emma?" was Mrs. Weston's parting question. + +"Oh! perfectly. I am always well, you know. Be sure to give me +intelligence of the letter as soon as possible." + +Mrs. Weston's communications furnished Emma with more food for +unpleasant reflection, by increasing her esteem and compassion, +and her sense of past injustice towards Miss Fairfax. She bitterly +regretted not having sought a closer acquaintance with her, and blushed +for the envious feelings which had certainly been, in some measure, +the cause. Had she followed Mr. Knightley's known wishes, in paying +that attention to Miss Fairfax, which was every way her due; had she +tried to know her better; had she done her part towards intimacy; +had she endeavoured to find a friend there instead of in Harriet Smith; +she must, in all probability, have been spared from every pain +which pressed on her now.--Birth, abilities, and education, +had been equally marking one as an associate for her, to be received +with gratitude; and the other--what was she?--Supposing even that +they had never become intimate friends; that she had never been +admitted into Miss Fairfax's confidence on this important matter-- +which was most probable--still, in knowing her as she ought, +and as she might, she must have been preserved from the abominable +suspicions of an improper attachment to Mr. Dixon, which she had +not only so foolishly fashioned and harboured herself, but had so +unpardonably imparted; an idea which she greatly feared had been made +a subject of material distress to the delicacy of Jane's feelings, +by the levity or carelessness of Frank Churchill's. Of all the sources +of evil surrounding the former, since her coming to Highbury, +she was persuaded that she must herself have been the worst. +She must have been a perpetual enemy. They never could have been +all three together, without her having stabbed Jane Fairfax's peace +in a thousand instances; and on Box Hill, perhaps, it had been +the agony of a mind that would bear no more. + +The evening of this day was very long, and melancholy, at Hartfield. +The weather added what it could of gloom. A cold stormy rain set in, +and nothing of July appeared but in the trees and shrubs, which the +wind was despoiling, and the length of the day, which only made +such cruel sights the longer visible. + +The weather affected Mr. Woodhouse, and he could only be kept tolerably +comfortable by almost ceaseless attention on his daughter's side, +and by exertions which had never cost her half so much before. +It reminded her of their first forlorn tete-a-tete, on the evening +of Mrs. Weston's wedding-day; but Mr. Knightley had walked +in then, soon after tea, and dissipated every melancholy fancy. +Alas! such delightful proofs of Hartfield's attraction, as those +sort of visits conveyed, might shortly be over. The picture which +she had then drawn of the privations of the approaching winter, +had proved erroneous; no friends had deserted them, no pleasures +had been lost.--But her present forebodings she feared would +experience no similar contradiction. The prospect before her now, +was threatening to a degree that could not be entirely dispelled-- +that might not be even partially brightened. If all took place +that might take place among the circle of her friends, Hartfield must +be comparatively deserted; and she left to cheer her father with the +spirits only of ruined happiness. + +The child to be born at Randalls must be a tie there even dearer +than herself; and Mrs. Weston's heart and time would be occupied +by it. They should lose her; and, probably, in great measure, +her husband also.--Frank Churchill would return among them no more; +and Miss Fairfax, it was reasonable to suppose, would soon cease +to belong to Highbury. They would be married, and settled either +at or near Enscombe. All that were good would be withdrawn; and if +to these losses, the loss of Donwell were to be added, what would +remain of cheerful or of rational society within their reach? +Mr. Knightley to be no longer coming there for his evening comfort!-- +No longer walking in at all hours, as if ever willing to change +his own home for their's!--How was it to be endured? And if he were +to be lost to them for Harriet's sake; if he were to be thought +of hereafter, as finding in Harriet's society all that he wanted; +if Harriet were to be the chosen, the first, the dearest, the friend, +the wife to whom he looked for all the best blessings of existence; +what could be increasing Emma's wretchedness but the reflection never far +distant from her mind, that it had been all her own work? + +When it came to such a pitch as this, she was not able to refrain +from a start, or a heavy sigh, or even from walking about the room +for a few seconds--and the only source whence any thing like consolation +or composure could be drawn, was in the resolution of her own +better conduct, and the hope that, however inferior in spirit and +gaiety might be the following and every future winter of her life +to the past, it would yet find her more rational, more acquainted +with herself, and leave her less to regret when it were gone. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +The weather continued much the same all the following morning; +and the same loneliness, and the same melancholy, seemed to +reign at Hartfield--but in the afternoon it cleared; the wind +changed into a softer quarter; the clouds were carried off; +the sun appeared; it was summer again. With all the eagerness +which such a transition gives, Emma resolved to be out of doors +as soon as possible. Never had the exquisite sight, smell, +sensation of nature, tranquil, warm, and brilliant after a storm, +been more attractive to her. She longed for the serenity they might +gradually introduce; and on Mr. Perry's coming in soon after dinner, +with a disengaged hour to give her father, she lost no time ill +hurrying into the shrubbery.--There, with spirits freshened, +and thoughts a little relieved, she had taken a few turns, when she +saw Mr. Knightley passing through the garden door, and coming +towards her.--It was the first intimation of his being returned +from London. She had been thinking of him the moment before, +as unquestionably sixteen miles distant.--There was time only for +the quickest arrangement of mind. She must be collected and calm. +In half a minute they were together. The "How d'ye do's" were quiet +and constrained on each side. She asked after their mutual friends; +they were all well.--When had he left them?--Only that morning. +He must have had a wet ride.--Yes.--He meant to walk with her, +she found. "He had just looked into the dining-room, and as he +was not wanted there, preferred being out of doors."--She thought +he neither looked nor spoke cheerfully; and the first possible +cause for it, suggested by her fears, was, that he had perhaps been +communicating his plans to his brother, and was pained by the manner +in which they had been received. + +They walked together. He was silent. She thought he was often +looking at her, and trying for a fuller view of her face than it +suited her to give. And this belief produced another dread. +Perhaps he wanted to speak to her, of his attachment to Harriet; +he might be watching for encouragement to begin.--She did not, +could not, feel equal to lead the way to any such subject. +He must do it all himself. Yet she could not bear this silence. +With him it was most unnatural. She considered--resolved--and, trying +to smile, began-- + +"You have some news to hear, now you are come back, that will rather +surprize you." + +"Have I?" said he quietly, and looking at her; "of what nature?" + +"Oh! the best nature in the world--a wedding." + +After waiting a moment, as if to be sure she intended to say no more, +he replied, + +"If you mean Miss Fairfax and Frank Churchill, I have heard +that already." + +"How is it possible?" cried Emma, turning her glowing cheeks +towards him; for, while she spoke, it occurred to her that he +might have called at Mrs. Goddard's in his way. + +"I had a few lines on parish business from Mr. Weston this morning, +and at the end of them he gave me a brief account of what had happened." + +Emma was quite relieved, and could presently say, with a little +more composure, + +"_You_ probably have been less surprized than any of us, for you have +had your suspicions.--I have not forgotten that you once tried to give +me a caution.--I wish I had attended to it--but--(with a sinking +voice and a heavy sigh) I seem to have been doomed to blindness." + +For a moment or two nothing was said, and she was unsuspicious +of having excited any particular interest, till she found her arm +drawn within his, and pressed against his heart, and heard him +thus saying, in a tone of great sensibility, speaking low, + +"Time, my dearest Emma, time will heal the wound.--Your own +excellent sense--your exertions for your father's sake--I know +you will not allow yourself--." Her arm was pressed again, +as he added, in a more broken and subdued accent, "The feelings +of the warmest friendship--Indignation--Abominable scoundrel!"-- +And in a louder, steadier tone, he concluded with, "He will soon +be gone. They will soon be in Yorkshire. I am sorry for _her_. +She deserves a better fate." + +Emma understood him; and as soon as she could recover from the +flutter of pleasure, excited by such tender consideration, replied, + +"You are very kind--but you are mistaken--and I must set you right.-- +I am not in want of that sort of compassion. My blindness to what +was going on, led me to act by them in a way that I must always +be ashamed of, and I was very foolishly tempted to say and do many +things which may well lay me open to unpleasant conjectures, but I +have no other reason to regret that I was not in the secret earlier." + +"Emma!" cried he, looking eagerly at her, "are you, indeed?"-- +but checking himself--"No, no, I understand you--forgive me--I am +pleased that you can say even so much.--He is no object of regret, +indeed! and it will not be very long, I hope, before that becomes +the acknowledgment of more than your reason.--Fortunate that your +affections were not farther entangled!--I could never, I confess, +from your manners, assure myself as to the degree of what you felt-- +I could only be certain that there was a preference--and a preference +which I never believed him to deserve.--He is a disgrace to the name +of man.--And is he to be rewarded with that sweet young woman?-- +Jane, Jane, you will be a miserable creature." + +"Mr. Knightley," said Emma, trying to be lively, but really confused-- +"I am in a very extraordinary situation. I cannot let you continue in +your error; and yet, perhaps, since my manners gave such an impression, +I have as much reason to be ashamed of confessing that I never have +been at all attached to the person we are speaking of, as it might +be natural for a woman to feel in confessing exactly the reverse.-- +But I never have." + +He listened in perfect silence. She wished him to speak, but he +would not. She supposed she must say more before she were entitled +to his clemency; but it was a hard case to be obliged still to lower +herself in his opinion. She went on, however. + +"I have very little to say for my own conduct.--I was tempted +by his attentions, and allowed myself to appear pleased.-- +An old story, probably--a common case--and no more than has happened +to hundreds of my sex before; and yet it may not be the more excusable +in one who sets up as I do for Understanding. Many circumstances +assisted the temptation. He was the son of Mr. Weston--he was +continually here--I always found him very pleasant--and, in short, +for (with a sigh) let me swell out the causes ever so ingeniously, +they all centre in this at last--my vanity was flattered, and I +allowed his attentions. Latterly, however--for some time, indeed-- +I have had no idea of their meaning any thing.--I thought them +a habit, a trick, nothing that called for seriousness on my side. +He has imposed on me, but he has not injured me. I have never been +attached to him. And now I can tolerably comprehend his behaviour. +He never wished to attach me. It was merely a blind to conceal +his real situation with another.--It was his object to blind +all about him; and no one, I am sure, could be more effectually +blinded than myself--except that I was _not_ blinded--that it was my +good fortune--that, in short, I was somehow or other safe from him." + +She had hoped for an answer here--for a few words to say that her +conduct was at least intelligible; but he was silent; and, as far +as she could judge, deep in thought. At last, and tolerably +in his usual tone, he said, + +"I have never had a high opinion of Frank Churchill.--I can suppose, +however, that I may have underrated him. My acquaintance with +him has been but trifling.--And even if I have not underrated +him hitherto, he may yet turn out well.--With such a woman he has +a chance.--I have no motive for wishing him ill--and for her sake, +whose happiness will be involved in his good character and conduct, +I shall certainly wish him well." + +"I have no doubt of their being happy together," said Emma; +"I believe them to be very mutually and very sincerely attached." + +"He is a most fortunate man!" returned Mr. Knightley, with energy. +"So early in life--at three-and-twenty--a period when, if a man +chuses a wife, he generally chuses ill. At three-and-twenty +to have drawn such a prize! What years of felicity that man, +in all human calculation, has before him!--Assured of the love of +such a woman--the disinterested love, for Jane Fairfax's character +vouches for her disinterestedness; every thing in his favour,-- +equality of situation--I mean, as far as regards society, and all the +habits and manners that are important; equality in every point but one-- +and that one, since the purity of her heart is not to be doubted, +such as must increase his felicity, for it will be his to bestow the +only advantages she wants.--A man would always wish to give a woman +a better home than the one he takes her from; and he who can do it, +where there is no doubt of _her_ regard, must, I think, be the happiest +of mortals.--Frank Churchill is, indeed, the favourite of fortune. +Every thing turns out for his good.--He meets with a young woman +at a watering-place, gains her affection, cannot even weary her +by negligent treatment--and had he and all his family sought round +the world for a perfect wife for him, they could not have found +her superior.--His aunt is in the way.--His aunt dies.--He has +only to speak.--His friends are eager to promote his happiness.-- +He had used every body ill--and they are all delighted to forgive him.-- +He is a fortunate man indeed!" + +"You speak as if you envied him." + +"And I do envy him, Emma. In one respect he is the object of my envy." + +Emma could say no more. They seemed to be within half a sentence +of Harriet, and her immediate feeling was to avert the subject, +if possible. She made her plan; she would speak of something +totally different--the children in Brunswick Square; and she +only waited for breath to begin, when Mr. Knightley startled her, +by saying, + +"You will not ask me what is the point of envy.--You are determined, +I see, to have no curiosity.--You are wise--but _I_ cannot be wise. +Emma, I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it +unsaid the next moment." + +"Oh! then, don't speak it, don't speak it," she eagerly cried. +"Take a little time, consider, do not commit yourself." + +"Thank you," said he, in an accent of deep mortification, and not +another syllable followed. + +Emma could not bear to give him pain. He was wishing to confide in her-- +perhaps to consult her;--cost her what it would, she would listen. +She might assist his resolution, or reconcile him to it; +she might give just praise to Harriet, or, by representing to him +his own independence, relieve him from that state of indecision, +which must be more intolerable than any alternative to such a mind +as his.--They had reached the house. + +"You are going in, I suppose?" said he. + +"No,"--replied Emma--quite confirmed by the depressed manner +in which he still spoke--"I should like to take another turn. +Mr. Perry is not gone." And, after proceeding a few steps, she added-- +"I stopped you ungraciously, just now, Mr. Knightley, and, I am afraid, +gave you pain.--But if you have any wish to speak openly to me +as a friend, or to ask my opinion of any thing that you may have +in contemplation--as a friend, indeed, you may command me.--I will +hear whatever you like. I will tell you exactly what I think." + +"As a friend!"--repeated Mr. Knightley.--"Emma, that I fear is +a word--No, I have no wish--Stay, yes, why should I hesitate?-- +I have gone too far already for concealment.--Emma, I accept your offer-- +Extraordinary as it may seem, I accept it, and refer myself to you +as a friend.--Tell me, then, have I no chance of ever succeeding?" + +He stopped in his earnestness to look the question, and the expression +of his eyes overpowered her. + +"My dearest Emma," said he, "for dearest you will always be, +whatever the event of this hour's conversation, my dearest, +most beloved Emma--tell me at once. Say `No,' if it is to be said."-- +She could really say nothing.--"You are silent," he cried, +with great animation; "absolutely silent! at present I ask no more." + +Emma was almost ready to sink under the agitation of this moment. +The dread of being awakened from the happiest dream, was perhaps +the most prominent feeling. + +"I cannot make speeches, Emma:" he soon resumed; and in a tone +of such sincere, decided, intelligible tenderness as was +tolerably convincing.--"If I loved you less, I might be able +to talk about it more. But you know what I am.--You hear nothing +but truth from me.--I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you +have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it.-- +Bear with the truths I would tell you now, dearest Emma, as well as +you have borne with them. The manner, perhaps, may have as little +to recommend them. God knows, I have been a very indifferent lover.-- +But you understand me.--Yes, you see, you understand my feelings-- +and will return them if you can. At present, I ask only to hear, +once to hear your voice." + +While he spoke, Emma's mind was most busy, and, with all the wonderful +velocity of thought, had been able--and yet without losing a word-- +to catch and comprehend the exact truth of the whole; to see that +Harriet's hopes had been entirely groundless, a mistake, a delusion, +as complete a delusion as any of her own--that Harriet was nothing; +that she was every thing herself; that what she had been saying +relative to Harriet had been all taken as the language of her +own feelings; and that her agitation, her doubts, her reluctance, +her discouragement, had been all received as discouragement +from herself.--And not only was there time for these convictions, +with all their glow of attendant happiness; there was time also to +rejoice that Harriet's secret had not escaped her, and to resolve +that it need not, and should not.--It was all the service she could +now render her poor friend; for as to any of that heroism of sentiment +which might have prompted her to entreat him to transfer his affection +from herself to Harriet, as infinitely the most worthy of the two-- +or even the more simple sublimity of resolving to refuse him +at once and for ever, without vouchsafing any motive, because he +could not marry them both, Emma had it not. She felt for Harriet, +with pain and with contrition; but no flight of generosity run mad, +opposing all that could be probable or reasonable, entered her brain. +She had led her friend astray, and it would be a reproach to +her for ever; but her judgment was as strong as her feelings, +and as strong as it had ever been before, in reprobating any such +alliance for him, as most unequal and degrading. Her way was clear, +though not quite smooth.--She spoke then, on being so entreated.-- +What did she say?--Just what she ought, of course. A lady always does.-- +She said enough to shew there need not be despair--and to invite him +to say more himself. He _had_ despaired at one period; he had received +such an injunction to caution and silence, as for the time crushed +every hope;--she had begun by refusing to hear him.--The change had +perhaps been somewhat sudden;--her proposal of taking another turn, +her renewing the conversation which she had just put an end to, +might be a little extraordinary!--She felt its inconsistency; +but Mr. Knightley was so obliging as to put up with it, and seek no +farther explanation. + +Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; +seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, +or a little mistaken; but where, as in this case, though the conduct +is mistaken, the feelings are not, it may not be very material.-- +Mr. Knightley could not impute to Emma a more relenting heart than +she possessed, or a heart more disposed to accept of his. + +He had, in fact, been wholly unsuspicious of his own influence. +He had followed her into the shrubbery with no idea of trying it. +He had come, in his anxiety to see how she bore Frank Churchill's +engagement, with no selfish view, no view at all, but of endeavouring, +if she allowed him an opening, to soothe or to counsel her.--The rest +had been the work of the moment, the immediate effect of what he heard, +on his feelings. The delightful assurance of her total indifference +towards Frank Churchill, of her having a heart completely disengaged +from him, had given birth to the hope, that, in time, he might gain +her affection himself;--but it had been no present hope--he had only, +in the momentary conquest of eagerness over judgment, aspired to be +told that she did not forbid his attempt to attach her.--The superior +hopes which gradually opened were so much the more enchanting.-- +The affection, which he had been asking to be allowed to create, +if he could, was already his!--Within half an hour, he had passed +from a thoroughly distressed state of mind, to something so like +perfect happiness, that it could bear no other name. + +_Her_ change was equal.--This one half-hour had given to each the +same precious certainty of being beloved, had cleared from each +the same degree of ignorance, jealousy, or distrust.--On his side, +there had been a long-standing jealousy, old as the arrival, +or even the expectation, of Frank Churchill.--He had been in love +with Emma, and jealous of Frank Churchill, from about the same period, +one sentiment having probably enlightened him as to the other. +It was his jealousy of Frank Churchill that had taken him from +the country.--The Box Hill party had decided him on going away. +He would save himself from witnessing again such permitted, +encouraged attentions.--He had gone to learn to be indifferent.-- +But he had gone to a wrong place. There was too much domestic +happiness in his brother's house; woman wore too amiable a form in it; +Isabella was too much like Emma--differing only in those striking +inferiorities, which always brought the other in brilliancy before him, +for much to have been done, even had his time been longer.--He had +stayed on, however, vigorously, day after day--till this very morning's +post had conveyed the history of Jane Fairfax.--Then, with the +gladness which must be felt, nay, which he did not scruple to feel, +having never believed Frank Churchill to be at all deserving Emma, +was there so much fond solicitude, so much keen anxiety for her, +that he could stay no longer. He had ridden home through the rain; +and had walked up directly after dinner, to see how this sweetest +and best of all creatures, faultless in spite of all her faults, +bore the discovery. + +He had found her agitated and low.--Frank Churchill was a villain.-- +He heard her declare that she had never loved him. Frank Churchill's +character was not desperate.--She was his own Emma, by hand and word, +when they returned into the house; and if he could have thought +of Frank Churchill then, he might have deemed him a very good sort +of fellow. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +What totally different feelings did Emma take back into the house +from what she had brought out!--she had then been only daring to hope +for a little respite of suffering;--she was now in an exquisite +flutter of happiness, and such happiness moreover as she believed +must still be greater when the flutter should have passed away. + +They sat down to tea--the same party round the same table-- +how often it had been collected!--and how often had her eyes fallen +on the same shrubs in the lawn, and observed the same beautiful +effect of the western sun!--But never in such a state of spirits, +never in any thing like it; and it was with difficulty that she could +summon enough of her usual self to be the attentive lady of the house, +or even the attentive daughter. + +Poor Mr. Woodhouse little suspected what was plotting against him +in the breast of that man whom he was so cordially welcoming, and so +anxiously hoping might not have taken cold from his ride.--Could he +have seen the heart, he would have cared very little for the lungs; +but without the most distant imagination of the impending evil, +without the slightest perception of any thing extraordinary in +the looks or ways of either, he repeated to them very comfortably +all the articles of news he had received from Mr. Perry, and talked +on with much self-contentment, totally unsuspicious of what they +could have told him in return. + +As long as Mr. Knightley remained with them, Emma's fever continued; +but when he was gone, she began to be a little tranquillised +and subdued--and in the course of the sleepless night, which was +the tax for such an evening, she found one or two such very serious +points to consider, as made her feel, that even her happiness +must have some alloy. Her father--and Harriet. She could not be +alone without feeling the full weight of their separate claims; +and how to guard the comfort of both to the utmost, was the question. +With respect to her father, it was a question soon answered. +She hardly knew yet what Mr. Knightley would ask; but a very short +parley with her own heart produced the most solemn resolution +of never quitting her father.--She even wept over the idea of it, +as a sin of thought. While he lived, it must be only an engagement; +but she flattered herself, that if divested of the danger of +drawing her away, it might become an increase of comfort to him.-- +How to do her best by Harriet, was of more difficult decision;-- +how to spare her from any unnecessary pain; how to make +her any possible atonement; how to appear least her enemy?-- +On these subjects, her perplexity and distress were very great-- +and her mind had to pass again and again through every bitter +reproach and sorrowful regret that had ever surrounded it.-- +She could only resolve at last, that she would still avoid a +meeting with her, and communicate all that need be told by letter; +that it would be inexpressibly desirable to have her removed just +now for a time from Highbury, and--indulging in one scheme more-- +nearly resolve, that it might be practicable to get an invitation +for her to Brunswick Square.--Isabella had been pleased with Harriet; +and a few weeks spent in London must give her some amusement.-- +She did not think it in Harriet's nature to escape being benefited +by novelty and variety, by the streets, the shops, and the children.-- +At any rate, it would be a proof of attention and kindness in herself, +from whom every thing was due; a separation for the present; an averting +of the evil day, when they must all be together again. + +She rose early, and wrote her letter to Harriet; an employment +which left her so very serious, so nearly sad, that Mr. Knightley, +in walking up to Hartfield to breakfast, did not arrive at all too soon; +and half an hour stolen afterwards to go over the same ground again +with him, literally and figuratively, was quite necessary to reinstate +her in a proper share of the happiness of the evening before. + +He had not left her long, by no means long enough for her to have +the slightest inclination for thinking of any body else, when a letter +was brought her from Randalls--a very thick letter;--she guessed +what it must contain, and deprecated the necessity of reading it.-- +She was now in perfect charity with Frank Churchill; she wanted +no explanations, she wanted only to have her thoughts to herself-- +and as for understanding any thing he wrote, she was sure she was +incapable of it.--It must be waded through, however. She opened +the packet; it was too surely so;--a note from Mrs. Weston to herself, +ushered in the letter from Frank to Mrs. Weston. + +"I have the greatest pleasure, my dear Emma, in forwarding +to you the enclosed. I know what thorough justice you will +do it, and have scarcely a doubt of its happy effect.--I think +we shall never materially disagree about the writer again; +but I will not delay you by a long preface.--We are quite well.-- +This letter has been the cure of all the little nervousness I have +been feeling lately.--I did not quite like your looks on Tuesday, +but it was an ungenial morning; and though you will never own being +affected by weather, I think every body feels a north-east wind.-- +I felt for your dear father very much in the storm of Tuesday +afternoon and yesterday morning, but had the comfort of hearing +last night, by Mr. Perry, that it had not made him ill. + "Yours ever, + "A. W." + + [To Mrs. Weston.] + WINDSOR-JULY. +MY DEAR MADAM, + +"If I made myself intelligible yesterday, this letter will be expected; +but expected or not, I know it will be read with candour and indulgence.-- +You are all goodness, and I believe there will be need of even +all your goodness to allow for some parts of my past conduct.-- +But I have been forgiven by one who had still more to resent. +My courage rises while I write. It is very difficult for the +prosperous to be humble. I have already met with such success +in two applications for pardon, that I may be in danger of thinking +myself too sure of yours, and of those among your friends who have +had any ground of offence.--You must all endeavour to comprehend +the exact nature of my situation when I first arrived at Randalls; +you must consider me as having a secret which was to be kept +at all hazards. This was the fact. My right to place myself +in a situation requiring such concealment, is another question. +I shall not discuss it here. For my temptation to _think_ it a right, +I refer every caviller to a brick house, sashed windows below, +and casements above, in Highbury. I dared not address her openly; +my difficulties in the then state of Enscombe must be too well +known to require definition; and I was fortunate enough to prevail, +before we parted at Weymouth, and to induce the most upright female +mind in the creation to stoop in charity to a secret engagement.-- +Had she refused, I should have gone mad.--But you will be ready to say, +what was your hope in doing this?--What did you look forward to?-- +To any thing, every thing--to time, chance, circumstance, slow effects, +sudden bursts, perseverance and weariness, health and sickness. +Every possibility of good was before me, and the first of blessings +secured, in obtaining her promises of faith and correspondence. +If you need farther explanation, I have the honour, my dear madam, +of being your husband's son, and the advantage of inheriting +a disposition to hope for good, which no inheritance of houses +or lands can ever equal the value of.--See me, then, under these +circumstances, arriving on my first visit to Randalls;--and here I +am conscious of wrong, for that visit might have been sooner paid. +You will look back and see that I did not come till Miss Fairfax +was in Highbury; and as _you_ were the person slighted, you will +forgive me instantly; but I must work on my father's compassion, +by reminding him, that so long as I absented myself from his house, +so long I lost the blessing of knowing you. My behaviour, +during the very happy fortnight which I spent with you, did not, +I hope, lay me open to reprehension, excepting on one point. +And now I come to the principal, the only important part of my +conduct while belonging to you, which excites my own anxiety, +or requires very solicitous explanation. With the greatest respect, +and the warmest friendship, do I mention Miss Woodhouse; my father +perhaps will think I ought to add, with the deepest humiliation.-- +A few words which dropped from him yesterday spoke his opinion, +and some censure I acknowledge myself liable to.--My behaviour +to Miss Woodhouse indicated, I believe, more than it ought.-- +In order to assist a concealment so essential to me, I was led +on to make more than an allowable use of the sort of intimacy +into which we were immediately thrown.--I cannot deny that Miss +Woodhouse was my ostensible object--but I am sure you will believe +the declaration, that had I not been convinced of her indifference, +I would not have been induced by any selfish views to go on.-- +Amiable and delightful as Miss Woodhouse is, she never gave me +the idea of a young woman likely to be attached; and that she was +perfectly free from any tendency to being attached to me, was as much +my conviction as my wish.--She received my attentions with an easy, +friendly, goodhumoured playfulness, which exactly suited me. +We seemed to understand each other. From our relative situation, +those attentions were her due, and were felt to be so.--Whether Miss +Woodhouse began really to understand me before the expiration of +that fortnight, I cannot say;--when I called to take leave of her, +I remember that I was within a moment of confessing the truth, +and I then fancied she was not without suspicion; but I have no +doubt of her having since detected me, at least in some degree.-- +She may not have surmised the whole, but her quickness must +have penetrated a part. I cannot doubt it. You will find, +whenever the subject becomes freed from its present restraints, +that it did not take her wholly by surprize. She frequently gave +me hints of it. I remember her telling me at the ball, that I +owed Mrs. Elton gratitude for her attentions to Miss Fairfax.-- +I hope this history of my conduct towards her will be admitted +by you and my father as great extenuation of what you saw amiss. +While you considered me as having sinned against Emma Woodhouse, +I could deserve nothing from either. Acquit me here, and procure +for me, when it is allowable, the acquittal and good wishes of that +said Emma Woodhouse, whom I regard with so much brotherly affection, +as to long to have her as deeply and as happily in love as myself.-- +Whatever strange things I said or did during that fortnight, you have +now a key to. My heart was in Highbury, and my business was to get +my body thither as often as might be, and with the least suspicion. +If you remember any queernesses, set them all to the right account.-- +Of the pianoforte so much talked of, I feel it only necessary to say, +that its being ordered was absolutely unknown to Miss F--, who would +never have allowed me to send it, had any choice been given her.-- +The delicacy of her mind throughout the whole engagement, +my dear madam, is much beyond my power of doing justice to. +You will soon, I earnestly hope, know her thoroughly yourself.-- +No description can describe her. She must tell you herself what she is-- +yet not by word, for never was there a human creature who would +so designedly suppress her own merit.--Since I began this letter, +which will be longer than I foresaw, I have heard from her.-- +She gives a good account of her own health; but as she never complains, +I dare not depend. I want to have your opinion of her looks. +I know you will soon call on her; she is living in dread of the visit. +Perhaps it is paid already. Let me hear from you without delay; +I am impatient for a thousand particulars. Remember how few +minutes I was at Randalls, and in how bewildered, how mad a state: +and I am not much better yet; still insane either from happiness +or misery. When I think of the kindness and favour I have met with, +of her excellence and patience, and my uncle's generosity, I am mad +with joy: but when I recollect all the uneasiness I occasioned her, +and how little I deserve to be forgiven, I am mad with anger. +If I could but see her again!--But I must not propose it yet. +My uncle has been too good for me to encroach.--I must still add +to this long letter. You have not heard all that you ought to hear. +I could not give any connected detail yesterday; but the suddenness, +and, in one light, the unseasonableness with which the affair burst out, +needs explanation; for though the event of the 26th ult., as you +will conclude, immediately opened to me the happiest prospects, +I should not have presumed on such early measures, but from the +very particular circumstances, which left me not an hour to lose. +I should myself have shrunk from any thing so hasty, and she would have +felt every scruple of mine with multiplied strength and refinement.-- +But I had no choice. The hasty engagement she had entered into with +that woman--Here, my dear madam, I was obliged to leave off abruptly, +to recollect and compose myself.--I have been walking over the country, +and am now, I hope, rational enough to make the rest of my letter +what it ought to be.--It is, in fact, a most mortifying retrospect +for me. I behaved shamefully. And here I can admit, that my manners +to Miss W., in being unpleasant to Miss F., were highly blameable. +_She_ disapproved them, which ought to have been enough.--My plea of +concealing the truth she did not think sufficient.--She was displeased; +I thought unreasonably so: I thought her, on a thousand occasions, +unnecessarily scrupulous and cautious: I thought her even cold. +But she was always right. If I had followed her judgment, and subdued +my spirits to the level of what she deemed proper, I should have +escaped the greatest unhappiness I have ever known.--We quarrelled.-- +Do you remember the morning spent at Donwell?--_There_ every little +dissatisfaction that had occurred before came to a crisis. I was late; +I met her walking home by herself, and wanted to walk with her, +but she would not suffer it. She absolutely refused to allow me, +which I then thought most unreasonable. Now, however, I see nothing +in it but a very natural and consistent degree of discretion. +While I, to blind the world to our engagement, was behaving one +hour with objectionable particularity to another woman, was she +to be consenting the next to a proposal which might have made +every previous caution useless?--Had we been met walking together +between Donwell and Highbury, the truth must have been suspected.-- +I was mad enough, however, to resent.--I doubted her affection. +I doubted it more the next day on Box Hill; when, provoked by +such conduct on my side, such shameful, insolent neglect of her, +and such apparent devotion to Miss W., as it would have been +impossible for any woman of sense to endure, she spoke her +resentment in a form of words perfectly intelligible to me.-- +In short, my dear madam, it was a quarrel blameless on her side, +abominable on mine; and I returned the same evening to Richmond, +though I might have staid with you till the next morning, +merely because I would be as angry with her as possible. Even then, +I was not such a fool as not to mean to be reconciled in time; +but I was the injured person, injured by her coldness, and I went +away determined that she should make the first advances.--I shall +always congratulate myself that you were not of the Box Hill party. +Had you witnessed my behaviour there, I can hardly suppose you would +ever have thought well of me again. Its effect upon her appears +in the immediate resolution it produced: as soon as she found I +was really gone from Randalls, she closed with the offer of that +officious Mrs. Elton; the whole system of whose treatment of her, +by the bye, has ever filled me with indignation and hatred. +I must not quarrel with a spirit of forbearance which has been +so richly extended towards myself; but, otherwise, I should loudly +protest against the share of it which that woman has known.-- +`Jane,' indeed!--You will observe that I have not yet indulged myself +in calling her by that name, even to you. Think, then, what I must +have endured in hearing it bandied between the Eltons with all +the vulgarity of needless repetition, and all the insolence of +imaginary superiority. Have patience with me, I shall soon have done.-- +She closed with this offer, resolving to break with me entirely, +and wrote the next day to tell me that we never were to meet again.-- +_She_ _felt_ _the_ _engagement_ _to_ _be_ _a_ _source_ _of_ _repentance_ _and_ _misery_ +_to_ _each_: _she_ _dissolved_ _it_.--This letter reached me on the very +morning of my poor aunt's death. I answered it within an hour; +but from the confusion of my mind, and the multiplicity of business +falling on me at once, my answer, instead of being sent with all +the many other letters of that day, was locked up in my writing-desk; +and I, trusting that I had written enough, though but a few lines, +to satisfy her, remained without any uneasiness.--I was rather +disappointed that I did not hear from her again speedily; +but I made excuses for her, and was too busy, and--may I add?-- +too cheerful in my views to be captious.--We removed to Windsor; +and two days afterwards I received a parcel from her, my own letters +all returned!--and a few lines at the same time by the post, +stating her extreme surprize at not having had the smallest reply +to her last; and adding, that as silence on such a point could +not be misconstrued, and as it must be equally desirable to both +to have every subordinate arrangement concluded as soon as possible, +she now sent me, by a safe conveyance, all my letters, and requested, +that if I could not directly command hers, so as to send them +to Highbury within a week, I would forward them after that period +to her at--: in short, the full direction to Mr. Smallridge's, +near Bristol, stared me in the face. I knew the name, the place, +I knew all about it, and instantly saw what she had been doing. +It was perfectly accordant with that resolution of character +which I knew her to possess; and the secrecy she had maintained, +as to any such design in her former letter, was equally descriptive +of its anxious delicacy. For the world would not she have seemed +to threaten me.--Imagine the shock; imagine how, till I had actually +detected my own blunder, I raved at the blunders of the post.-- +What was to be done?--One thing only.--I must speak to my uncle. +Without his sanction I could not hope to be listened to again.-- +I spoke; circumstances were in my favour; the late event had softened +away his pride, and he was, earlier than I could have anticipated, +wholly reconciled and complying; and could say at last, poor man! +with a deep sigh, that he wished I might find as much happiness +in the marriage state as he had done.--I felt that it would be +of a different sort.--Are you disposed to pity me for what I must +have suffered in opening the cause to him, for my suspense while +all was at stake?--No; do not pity me till I reached Highbury, +and saw how ill I had made her. Do not pity me till I saw her wan, +sick looks.--I reached Highbury at the time of day when, from my +knowledge of their late breakfast hour, I was certain of a good chance +of finding her alone.--I was not disappointed; and at last I was +not disappointed either in the object of my journey. A great deal +of very reasonable, very just displeasure I had to persuade away. +But it is done; we are reconciled, dearer, much dearer, than ever, +and no moment's uneasiness can ever occur between us again. Now, my +dear madam, I will release you; but I could not conclude before. +A thousand and a thousand thanks for all the kindness you have +ever shewn me, and ten thousand for the attentions your heart +will dictate towards her.--If you think me in a way to be happier +than I deserve, I am quite of your opinion.--Miss W. calls me +the child of good fortune. I hope she is right.--In one respect, +my good fortune is undoubted, that of being able to subscribe +myself, + Your obliged and affectionate Son, + F. C. WESTON CHURCHILL. + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +This letter must make its way to Emma's feelings. She was obliged, +in spite of her previous determination to the contrary, to do +it all the justice that Mrs. Weston foretold. As soon as she +came to her own name, it was irresistible; every line relating +to herself was interesting, and almost every line agreeable; +and when this charm ceased, the subject could still maintain itself, +by the natural return of her former regard for the writer, and the +very strong attraction which any picture of love must have for her at +that moment. She never stopt till she had gone through the whole; +and though it was impossible not to feel that he had been wrong, +yet he had been less wrong than she had supposed--and he had suffered, +and was very sorry--and he was so grateful to Mrs. Weston, +and so much in love with Miss Fairfax, and she was so happy herself, +that there was no being severe; and could he have entered the room, +she must have shaken hands with him as heartily as ever. + +She thought so well of the letter, that when Mr. Knightley came again, +she desired him to read it. She was sure of Mrs. Weston's wishing +it to be communicated; especially to one, who, like Mr. Knightley, +had seen so much to blame in his conduct. + +"I shall be very glad to look it over," said he; "but it seems long. +I will take it home with me at night." + +But that would not do. Mr. Weston was to call in the evening, +and she must return it by him. + +"I would rather be talking to you," he replied; "but as it seems +a matter of justice, it shall be done." + +He began--stopping, however, almost directly to say, "Had I been offered +the sight of one of this gentleman's letters to his mother-in-law a few +months ago, Emma, it would not have been taken with such indifference." + +He proceeded a little farther, reading to himself; and then, +with a smile, observed, "Humph! a fine complimentary opening: +But it is his way. One man's style must not be the rule of another's. +We will not be severe." + +"It will be natural for me," he added shortly afterwards, "to speak my +opinion aloud as I read. By doing it, I shall feel that I am near you. +It will not be so great a loss of time: but if you dislike it--" + +"Not at all. I should wish it." + +Mr. Knightley returned to his reading with greater alacrity. + +"He trifles here," said he, "as to the temptation. He knows +he is wrong, and has nothing rational to urge.--Bad.--He ought +not to have formed the engagement.--`His father's disposition:'-- +he is unjust, however, to his father. Mr. Weston's sanguine +temper was a blessing on all his upright and honourable exertions; +but Mr. Weston earned every present comfort before he endeavoured +to gain it.--Very true; he did not come till Miss Fairfax was here." + +"And I have not forgotten," said Emma, "how sure you were that he +might have come sooner if he would. You pass it over very handsomely-- +but you were perfectly right." + +"I was not quite impartial in my judgment, Emma:--but yet, I think-- +had _you_ not been in the case--I should still have distrusted him." + +When he came to Miss Woodhouse, he was obliged to read the whole +of it aloud--all that related to her, with a smile; a look; +a shake of the head; a word or two of assent, or disapprobation; +or merely of love, as the subject required; concluding, however, +seriously, and, after steady reflection, thus-- + +"Very bad--though it might have been worse.--Playing a most +dangerous game. Too much indebted to the event for his acquittal.-- +No judge of his own manners by you.--Always deceived in fact by his +own wishes, and regardless of little besides his own convenience.-- +Fancying you to have fathomed his secret. Natural enough!-- +his own mind full of intrigue, that he should suspect it +in others.--Mystery; Finesse--how they pervert the understanding! +My Emma, does not every thing serve to prove more and more the +beauty of truth and sincerity in all our dealings with each other?" + +Emma agreed to it, and with a blush of sensibility on Harriet's account, +which she could not give any sincere explanation of. + +"You had better go on," said she. + +He did so, but very soon stopt again to say, "the pianoforte! +Ah! That was the act of a very, very young man, one too young +to consider whether the inconvenience of it might not very much +exceed the pleasure. A boyish scheme, indeed!--I cannot +comprehend a man's wishing to give a woman any proof of affection +which he knows she would rather dispense with; and he did +know that she would have prevented the instrument's coming if she could." + +After this, he made some progress without any pause. +Frank Churchill's confession of having behaved shamefully +was the first thing to call for more than a word in passing. + +"I perfectly agree with you, sir,"--was then his remark. +"You did behave very shamefully. You never wrote a truer line." +And having gone through what immediately followed of the basis +of their disagreement, and his persisting to act in direct +opposition to Jane Fairfax's sense of right, he made a fuller pause +to say, "This is very bad.--He had induced her to place herself, +for his sake, in a situation of extreme difficulty and uneasiness, +and it should have been his first object to prevent her from +suffering unnecessarily.--She must have had much more to contend with, +in carrying on the correspondence, than he could. He should have +respected even unreasonable scruples, had there been such; but hers +were all reasonable. We must look to her one fault, and remember +that she had done a wrong thing in consenting to the engagement, +to bear that she should have been in such a state of punishment." + +Emma knew that he was now getting to the Box Hill party, +and grew uncomfortable. Her own behaviour had been so very improper! +She was deeply ashamed, and a little afraid of his next look. +It was all read, however, steadily, attentively, and without +the smallest remark; and, excepting one momentary glance at her, +instantly withdrawn, in the fear of giving pain--no remembrance +of Box Hill seemed to exist. + +"There is no saying much for the delicacy of our good friends, +the Eltons," was his next observation.--"His feelings are natural.-- +What! actually resolve to break with him entirely!--She felt +the engagement to be a source of repentance and misery to each-- +she dissolved it.--What a view this gives of her sense of +his behaviour!--Well, he must be a most extraordinary--" + +"Nay, nay, read on.--You will find how very much he suffers." + +"I hope he does," replied Mr. Knightley coolly, and resuming the letter. +"`Smallridge!'--What does this mean? What is all this?" + +"She had engaged to go as governess to Mrs. Smallridge's children-- +a dear friend of Mrs. Elton's--a neighbour of Maple Grove; and, +by the bye, I wonder how Mrs. Elton bears the disappointment?" + +"Say nothing, my dear Emma, while you oblige me to read--not even +of Mrs. Elton. Only one page more. I shall soon have done. +What a letter the man writes!" + +"I wish you would read it with a kinder spirit towards him." + +"Well, there _is_ feeling here.--He does seem to have suffered in finding +her ill.--Certainly, I can have no doubt of his being fond of her. +`Dearer, much dearer than ever.' I hope he may long continue to feel +all the value of such a reconciliation.--He is a very liberal thanker, +with his thousands and tens of thousands.--`Happier than I deserve.' +Come, he knows himself there. `Miss Woodhouse calls me the child +of good fortune.'--Those were Miss Woodhouse's words, were they?-- +And a fine ending--and there is the letter. The child of good fortune! +That was your name for him, was it?" + +"You do not appear so well satisfied with his letter as I am; +but still you must, at least I hope you must, think the better +of him for it. I hope it does him some service with you." + +"Yes, certainly it does. He has had great faults, faults of +inconsideration and thoughtlessness; and I am very much of his +opinion in thinking him likely to be happier than he deserves: +but still as he is, beyond a doubt, really attached to Miss Fairfax, +and will soon, it may be hoped, have the advantage of being constantly +with her, I am very ready to believe his character will improve, +and acquire from hers the steadiness and delicacy of principle +that it wants. And now, let me talk to you of something else. +I have another person's interest at present so much at heart, +that I cannot think any longer about Frank Churchill. Ever since I +left you this morning, Emma, my mind has been hard at work on +one subject." + +The subject followed; it was in plain, unaffected, gentlemanlike English, +such as Mr. Knightley used even to the woman he was in love with, +how to be able to ask her to marry him, without attacking the +happiness of her father. Emma's answer was ready at the first word. +"While her dear father lived, any change of condition must be impossible +for her. She could never quit him." Part only of this answer, +however, was admitted. The impossibility of her quitting her father, +Mr. Knightley felt as strongly as herself; but the inadmissibility +of any other change, he could not agree to. He had been thinking +it over most deeply, most intently; he had at first hoped to induce +Mr. Woodhouse to remove with her to Donwell; he had wanted to believe +it feasible, but his knowledge of Mr. Woodhouse would not suffer +him to deceive himself long; and now he confessed his persuasion, +that such a transplantation would be a risk of her father's comfort, +perhaps even of his life, which must not be hazarded. Mr. Woodhouse +taken from Hartfield!--No, he felt that it ought not to be attempted. +But the plan which had arisen on the sacrifice of this, he trusted +his dearest Emma would not find in any respect objectionable; +it was, that he should be received at Hartfield; that so long as +her father's happiness in other words his life--required Hartfield +to continue her home, it should be his likewise. + +Of their all removing to Donwell, Emma had already had her own +passing thoughts. Like him, she had tried the scheme and rejected it; +but such an alternative as this had not occurred to her. +She was sensible of all the affection it evinced. She felt that, +in quitting Donwell, he must be sacrificing a great deal of independence +of hours and habits; that in living constantly with her father, +and in no house of his own, there would be much, very much, +to be borne with. She promised to think of it, and advised him +to think of it more; but he was fully convinced, that no reflection +could alter his wishes or his opinion on the subject. He had +given it, he could assure her, very long and calm consideration; +he had been walking away from William Larkins the whole morning, +to have his thoughts to himself. + +"Ah! there is one difficulty unprovided for," cried Emma. "I am +sure William Larkins will not like it. You must get his consent +before you ask mine." + +She promised, however, to think of it; and pretty nearly promised, moreover, +to think of it, with the intention of finding it a very good scheme. + +It is remarkable, that Emma, in the many, very many, points of view +in which she was now beginning to consider Donwell Abbey, was never +struck with any sense of injury to her nephew Henry, whose rights +as heir-expectant had formerly been so tenaciously regarded. +Think she must of the possible difference to the poor little boy; +and yet she only gave herself a saucy conscious smile about it, +and found amusement in detecting the real cause of that violent +dislike of Mr. Knightley's marrying Jane Fairfax, or any body else, +which at the time she had wholly imputed to the amiable solicitude of +the sister and the aunt. + +This proposal of his, this plan of marrying and continuing at Hartfield-- +the more she contemplated it, the more pleasing it became. +His evils seemed to lessen, her own advantages to increase, +their mutual good to outweigh every drawback. Such a companion +for herself in the periods of anxiety and cheerlessness before her!-- +Such a partner in all those duties and cares to which time must be +giving increase of melancholy! + +She would have been too happy but for poor Harriet; but every +blessing of her own seemed to involve and advance the sufferings +of her friend, who must now be even excluded from Hartfield. +The delightful family party which Emma was securing for herself, +poor Harriet must, in mere charitable caution, be kept at a +distance from. She would be a loser in every way. Emma could not +deplore her future absence as any deduction from her own enjoyment. +In such a party, Harriet would be rather a dead weight than otherwise; +but for the poor girl herself, it seemed a peculiarly cruel necessity +that was to be placing her in such a state of unmerited punishment. + +In time, of course, Mr. Knightley would be forgotten, that is, +supplanted; but this could not be expected to happen very early. +Mr. Knightley himself would be doing nothing to assist the cure;-- +not like Mr. Elton. Mr. Knightley, always so kind, so feeling, +so truly considerate for every body, would never deserve to be +less worshipped than now; and it really was too much to hope even +of Harriet, that she could be in love with more than _three_ men +in one year. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +It was a very great relief to Emma to find Harriet as desirous +as herself to avoid a meeting. Their intercourse was painful +enough by letter. How much worse, had they been obliged to meet! + +Harriet expressed herself very much as might be supposed, +without reproaches, or apparent sense of ill-usage; and yet Emma fancied +there was a something of resentment, a something bordering on it in +her style, which increased the desirableness of their being separate.-- +It might be only her own consciousness; but it seemed as if an +angel only could have been quite without resentment under such a stroke. + +She had no difficulty in procuring Isabella's invitation; +and she was fortunate in having a sufficient reason for asking it, +without resorting to invention.--There was a tooth amiss. +Harriet really wished, and had wished some time, to consult a dentist. +Mrs. John Knightley was delighted to be of use; any thing of ill +health was a recommendation to her--and though not so fond of a +dentist as of a Mr. Wingfield, she was quite eager to have Harriet +under her care.--When it was thus settled on her sister's side, +Emma proposed it to her friend, and found her very persuadable.-- +Harriet was to go; she was invited for at least a fortnight; she was +to be conveyed in Mr. Woodhouse's carriage.--It was all arranged, +it was all completed, and Harriet was safe in Brunswick Square. + +Now Emma could, indeed, enjoy Mr. Knightley's visits; now she +could talk, and she could listen with true happiness, unchecked by +that sense of injustice, of guilt, of something most painful, +which had haunted her when remembering how disappointed a heart was +near her, how much might at that moment, and at a little distance, +be enduring by the feelings which she had led astray herself. + +The difference of Harriet at Mrs. Goddard's, or in London, made perhaps +an unreasonable difference in Emma's sensations; but she could not +think of her in London without objects of curiosity and employment, +which must be averting the past, and carrying her out of herself. + +She would not allow any other anxiety to succeed directly to the place +in her mind which Harriet had occupied. There was a communication +before her, one which _she_ only could be competent to make-- +the confession of her engagement to her father; but she would +have nothing to do with it at present.--She had resolved to defer +the disclosure till Mrs. Weston were safe and well. No additional +agitation should be thrown at this period among those she loved-- +and the evil should not act on herself by anticipation before the +appointed time.--A fortnight, at least, of leisure and peace of mind, +to crown every warmer, but more agitating, delight, should be hers. + +She soon resolved, equally as a duty and a pleasure, to employ half +an hour of this holiday of spirits in calling on Miss Fairfax.-- +She ought to go--and she was longing to see her; the resemblance of +their present situations increasing every other motive of goodwill. +It would be a _secret_ satisfaction; but the consciousness of a +similarity of prospect would certainly add to the interest with +which she should attend to any thing Jane might communicate. + +She went--she had driven once unsuccessfully to the door, but had +not been into the house since the morning after Box Hill, when poor +Jane had been in such distress as had filled her with compassion, +though all the worst of her sufferings had been unsuspected.-- +The fear of being still unwelcome, determined her, though assured +of their being at home, to wait in the passage, and send up her name.-- +She heard Patty announcing it; but no such bustle succeeded as poor +Miss Bates had before made so happily intelligible.--No; she heard +nothing but the instant reply of, "Beg her to walk up;"--and a moment +afterwards she was met on the stairs by Jane herself, coming eagerly +forward, as if no other reception of her were felt sufficient.-- +Emma had never seen her look so well, so lovely, so engaging. +There was consciousness, animation, and warmth; there was every +thing which her countenance or manner could ever have wanted.-- +She came forward with an offered hand; and said, in a low, but very +feeling tone, + +"This is most kind, indeed!--Miss Woodhouse, it is impossible +for me to express--I hope you will believe--Excuse me for being +so entirely without words." + +Emma was gratified, and would soon have shewn no want of words, +if the sound of Mrs. Elton's voice from the sitting-room had not +checked her, and made it expedient to compress all her friendly +and all her congratulatory sensations into a very, very earnest +shake of the hand. + +Mrs. Bates and Mrs. Elton were together. Miss Bates was out, +which accounted for the previous tranquillity. Emma could have +wished Mrs. Elton elsewhere; but she was in a humour to have patience +with every body; and as Mrs. Elton met her with unusual graciousness, +she hoped the rencontre would do them no harm. + +She soon believed herself to penetrate Mrs. Elton's thoughts, +and understand why she was, like herself, in happy spirits; +it was being in Miss Fairfax's confidence, and fancying herself +acquainted with what was still a secret to other people. +Emma saw symptoms of it immediately in the expression of her face; +and while paying her own compliments to Mrs. Bates, and appearing +to attend to the good old lady's replies, she saw her with a sort +of anxious parade of mystery fold up a letter which she had apparently +been reading aloud to Miss Fairfax, and return it into the purple +and gold reticule by her side, saying, with significant nods, + +"We can finish this some other time, you know. You and I shall +not want opportunities. And, in fact, you have heard all the +essential already. I only wanted to prove to you that Mrs. S. admits +our apology, and is not offended. You see how delightfully +she writes. Oh! she is a sweet creature! You would have doated +on her, had you gone.--But not a word more. Let us be discreet-- +quite on our good behaviour.--Hush!--You remember those lines-- +I forget the poem at this moment: + + "For when a lady's in the case, + "You know all other things give place." + +Now I say, my dear, in _our_ case, for _lady_, read----mum! a word +to the wise.--I am in a fine flow of spirits, an't I? But I want +to set your heart at ease as to Mrs. S.--_My_ representation, you see, +has quite appeased her." + +And again, on Emma's merely turning her head to look +at Mrs. Bates's knitting, she added, in a half whisper, + +"I mentioned no _names_, you will observe.--Oh! no; cautious as +a minister of state. I managed it extremely well." + +Emma could not doubt. It was a palpable display, repeated on every +possible occasion. When they had all talked a little while in harmony +of the weather and Mrs. Weston, she found herself abruptly addressed with, + +"Do not you think, Miss Woodhouse, our saucy little friend here is +charmingly recovered?--Do not you think her cure does Perry the +highest credit?--(here was a side-glance of great meaning at Jane.) +Upon my word, Perry has restored her in a wonderful short time!-- +Oh! if you had seen her, as I did, when she was at the worst!"-- +And when Mrs. Bates was saying something to Emma, whispered farther, +"We do not say a word of any _assistance_ that Perry might have; +not a word of a certain young physician from Windsor.--Oh! no; +Perry shall have all the credit." + +"I have scarce had the pleasure of seeing you, Miss Woodhouse," +she shortly afterwards began, "since the party to Box Hill. +Very pleasant party. But yet I think there was something wanting. +Things did not seem--that is, there seemed a little cloud upon +the spirits of some.--So it appeared to me at least, but I might +be mistaken. However, I think it answered so far as to tempt one +to go again. What say you both to our collecting the same party, +and exploring to Box Hill again, while the fine weather lasts?-- +It must be the same party, you know, quite the same party, +not _one_ exception." + +Soon after this Miss Bates came in, and Emma could not help being diverted +by the perplexity of her first answer to herself, resulting, she supposed, +from doubt of what might be said, and impatience to say every thing. + +"Thank you, dear Miss Woodhouse, you are all kindness.--It is impossible +to say--Yes, indeed, I quite understand--dearest Jane's prospects-- +that is, I do not mean.--But she is charmingly recovered.-- +How is Mr. Woodhouse?--I am so glad.--Quite out of my power.-- +Such a happy little circle as you find us here.--Yes, indeed.-- +Charming young man!--that is--so very friendly; I mean good Mr. Perry!-- +such attention to Jane!"--And from her great, her more than commonly +thankful delight towards Mrs. Elton for being there, Emma guessed +that there had been a little show of resentment towards Jane, +from the vicarage quarter, which was now graciously overcome.-- +After a few whispers, indeed, which placed it beyond a guess, +Mrs. Elton, speaking louder, said, + +"Yes, here I am, my good friend; and here I have been so long, +that anywhere else I should think it necessary to apologise; +but, the truth is, that I am waiting for my lord and master. +He promised to join me here, and pay his respects to you." + +"What! are we to have the pleasure of a call from Mr. Elton?-- +That will be a favour indeed! for I know gentlemen do not like +morning visits, and Mr. Elton's time is so engaged." + +"Upon my word it is, Miss Bates.--He really is engaged from morning +to night.--There is no end of people's coming to him, on some pretence +or other.--The magistrates, and overseers, and churchwardens, +are always wanting his opinion. They seem not able to do any thing +without him.--`Upon my word, Mr. E.,' I often say, `rather you than I.-- +I do not know what would become of my crayons and my instrument, +if I had half so many applicants.'--Bad enough as it is, for I +absolutely neglect them both to an unpardonable degree.--I believe +I have not played a bar this fortnight.--However, he is coming, +I assure you: yes, indeed, on purpose to wait on you all." And putting +up her hand to screen her words from Emma--"A congratulatory visit, +you know.--Oh! yes, quite indispensable." + +Miss Bates looked about her, so happily!-- + +"He promised to come to me as soon as he could disengage himself +from Knightley; but he and Knightley are shut up together +in deep consultation.--Mr. E. is Knightley's right hand." + +Emma would not have smiled for the world, and only said, "Is Mr. Elton +gone on foot to Donwell?--He will have a hot walk." + +"Oh! no, it is a meeting at the Crown, a regular meeting. +Weston and Cole will be there too; but one is apt to speak only +of those who lead.--I fancy Mr. E. and Knightley have every thing +their own way." + +"Have not you mistaken the day?" said Emma. "I am almost certain +that the meeting at the Crown is not till to-morrow.--Mr. Knightley +was at Hartfield yesterday, and spoke of it as for Saturday." + +"Oh! no, the meeting is certainly to-day," was the abrupt answer, +which denoted the impossibility of any blunder on Mrs. Elton's side.-- +"I do believe," she continued, "this is the most troublesome parish +that ever was. We never heard of such things at Maple Grove." + +"Your parish there was small," said Jane. + +"Upon my word, my dear, I do not know, for I never heard the subject +talked of." + +"But it is proved by the smallness of the school, which I have heard +you speak of, as under the patronage of your sister and Mrs. Bragge; +the only school, and not more than five-and-twenty children." + +"Ah! you clever creature, that's very true. What a thinking brain +you have! I say, Jane, what a perfect character you and I should make, +if we could be shaken together. My liveliness and your solidity +would produce perfection.--Not that I presume to insinuate, however, +that _some_ people may not think _you_ perfection already.--But hush!-- +not a word, if you please." + +It seemed an unnecessary caution; Jane was wanting to give her words, +not to Mrs. Elton, but to Miss Woodhouse, as the latter plainly saw. +The wish of distinguishing her, as far as civility permitted, +was very evident, though it could not often proceed beyond a look. + +Mr. Elton made his appearance. His lady greeted him with some +of her sparkling vivacity. + +"Very pretty, sir, upon my word; to send me on here, to be an +encumbrance to my friends, so long before you vouchsafe to come!-- +But you knew what a dutiful creature you had to deal with. +You knew I should not stir till my lord and master appeared.-- +Here have I been sitting this hour, giving these young ladies +a sample of true conjugal obedience--for who can say, you know, +how soon it may be wanted?" + +Mr. Elton was so hot and tired, that all this wit seemed thrown away. +His civilities to the other ladies must be paid; but his subsequent +object was to lament over himself for the heat he was suffering, +and the walk he had had for nothing. + +"When I got to Donwell," said he, "Knightley could not be found. +Very odd! very unaccountable! after the note I sent him this morning, +and the message he returned, that he should certainly be at home +till one." + +"Donwell!" cried his wife.--"My dear Mr. E., you have not been +to Donwell!--You mean the Crown; you come from the meeting at the Crown." + +"No, no, that's to-morrow; and I particularly wanted to see Knightley +to-day on that very account.--Such a dreadful broiling morning!-- +I went over the fields too--(speaking in a tone of great ill-usage,) +which made it so much the worse. And then not to find him at home! +I assure you I am not at all pleased. And no apology left, no message +for me. The housekeeper declared she knew nothing of my being expected.-- +Very extraordinary!--And nobody knew at all which way he was gone. +Perhaps to Hartfield, perhaps to the Abbey Mill, perhaps into his woods.-- +Miss Woodhouse, this is not like our friend Knightley!--Can you +explain it?" + +Emma amused herself by protesting that it was very extraordinary, +indeed, and that she had not a syllable to say for him. + +"I cannot imagine," said Mrs. Elton, (feeling the indignity as a wife +ought to do,) "I cannot imagine how he could do such a thing by you, +of all people in the world! The very last person whom one should expect +to be forgotten!--My dear Mr. E., he must have left a message for you, +I am sure he must.--Not even Knightley could be so very eccentric;-- +and his servants forgot it. Depend upon it, that was the case: +and very likely to happen with the Donwell servants, who are all, +I have often observed, extremely awkward and remiss.--I am sure I +would not have such a creature as his Harry stand at our sideboard +for any consideration. And as for Mrs. Hodges, Wright holds +her very cheap indeed.--She promised Wright a receipt, and never +sent it." + +"I met William Larkins," continued Mr. Elton, "as I got near +the house, and he told me I should not find his master at home, +but I did not believe him.--William seemed rather out of humour. +He did not know what was come to his master lately, he said, but he +could hardly ever get the speech of him. I have nothing to do with +William's wants, but it really is of very great importance that _I_ +should see Knightley to-day; and it becomes a matter, therefore, +of very serious inconvenience that I should have had this hot walk +to no purpose." + +Emma felt that she could not do better than go home directly. +In all probability she was at this very time waited for there; +and Mr. Knightley might be preserved from sinking deeper in aggression +towards Mr. Elton, if not towards William Larkins. + +She was pleased, on taking leave, to find Miss Fairfax determined +to attend her out of the room, to go with her even downstairs; +it gave her an opportunity which she immediately made use of, +to say, + +"It is as well, perhaps, that I have not had the possibility. +Had you not been surrounded by other friends, I might have been +tempted to introduce a subject, to ask questions, to speak more +openly than might have been strictly correct.--I feel that I should +certainly have been impertinent." + +"Oh!" cried Jane, with a blush and an hesitation which Emma thought +infinitely more becoming to her than all the elegance of all her +usual composure--"there would have been no danger. The danger +would have been of my wearying you. You could not have gratified +me more than by expressing an interest--. Indeed, Miss Woodhouse, +(speaking more collectedly,) with the consciousness which I +have of misconduct, very great misconduct, it is particularly +consoling to me to know that those of my friends, whose good +opinion is most worth preserving, are not disgusted to such a +degree as to--I have not time for half that I could wish to say. +I long to make apologies, excuses, to urge something for myself. +I feel it so very due. But, unfortunately--in short, if your +compassion does not stand my friend--" + +"Oh! you are too scrupulous, indeed you are," cried Emma warmly, +and taking her hand. "You owe me no apologies; and every body to +whom you might be supposed to owe them, is so perfectly satisfied, +so delighted even--" + +"You are very kind, but I know what my manners were to you.-- +So cold and artificial!--I had always a part to act.--It was a life +of deceit!--I know that I must have disgusted you." + +"Pray say no more. I feel that all the apologies should be on my side. +Let us forgive each other at once. We must do whatever is to be +done quickest, and I think our feelings will lose no time there. +I hope you have pleasant accounts from Windsor?" + +"Very." + +"And the next news, I suppose, will be, that we are to lose you-- +just as I begin to know you." + +"Oh! as to all that, of course nothing can be thought of yet. +I am here till claimed by Colonel and Mrs. Campbell." + +"Nothing can be actually settled yet, perhaps," replied Emma, +smiling--"but, excuse me, it must be thought of." + +The smile was returned as Jane answered, + +"You are very right; it has been thought of. And I will own +to you, (I am sure it will be safe), that so far as our living +with Mr. Churchill at Enscombe, it is settled. There must be +three months, at least, of deep mourning; but when they are over, +I imagine there will be nothing more to wait for." + +"Thank you, thank you.--This is just what I wanted to be assured of.-- +Oh! if you knew how much I love every thing that is decided and open!-- +Good-bye, good-bye." + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +Mrs. Weston's friends were all made happy by her safety; +and if the satisfaction of her well-doing could be increased +to Emma, it was by knowing her to be the mother of a little girl. +She had been decided in wishing for a Miss Weston. She would +not acknowledge that it was with any view of making a match +for her, hereafter, with either of Isabella's sons; but she was +convinced that a daughter would suit both father and mother best. +It would be a great comfort to Mr. Weston, as he grew older-- +and even Mr. Weston might be growing older ten years hence--to have +his fireside enlivened by the sports and the nonsense, the freaks +and the fancies of a child never banished from home; and Mrs. Weston-- +no one could doubt that a daughter would be most to her; and it +would be quite a pity that any one who so well knew how to teach, +should not have their powers in exercise again. + +"She has had the advantage, you know, of practising on me," +she continued--"like La Baronne d'Almane on La Comtesse d'Ostalis, +in Madame de Genlis' Adelaide and Theodore, and we shall now see +her own little Adelaide educated on a more perfect plan." + +"That is," replied Mr. Knightley, "she will indulge her even more +than she did you, and believe that she does not indulge her at all. +It will be the only difference." + +"Poor child!" cried Emma; "at that rate, what will become of her?" + +"Nothing very bad.--The fate of thousands. She will be disagreeable +in infancy, and correct herself as she grows older. I am losing +all my bitterness against spoilt children, my dearest Emma. +I, who am owing all my happiness to _you_, would not it be horrible +ingratitude in me to be severe on them?" + +Emma laughed, and replied: "But I had the assistance of all +your endeavours to counteract the indulgence of other people. +I doubt whether my own sense would have corrected me without it." + +"Do you?--I have no doubt. Nature gave you understanding:-- +Miss Taylor gave you principles. You must have done well. +My interference was quite as likely to do harm as good. It was +very natural for you to say, what right has he to lecture me?-- +and I am afraid very natural for you to feel that it was done +in a disagreeable manner. I do not believe I did you any good. +The good was all to myself, by making you an object of the tenderest +affection to me. I could not think about you so much without doating +on you, faults and all; and by dint of fancying so many errors, +have been in love with you ever since you were thirteen at least." + +"I am sure you were of use to me," cried Emma. "I was very often +influenced rightly by you--oftener than I would own at the time. +I am very sure you did me good. And if poor little Anna Weston is +to be spoiled, it will be the greatest humanity in you to do as much +for her as you have done for me, except falling in love with her +when she is thirteen." + +"How often, when you were a girl, have you said to me, with one +of your saucy looks--`Mr. Knightley, I am going to do so-and-so; +papa says I may, or I have Miss Taylor's leave'--something which, +you knew, I did not approve. In such cases my interference was giving +you two bad feelings instead of one." + +"What an amiable creature I was!--No wonder you should hold +my speeches in such affectionate remembrance." + +"`Mr. Knightley.'--You always called me, `Mr. Knightley;' and, +from habit, it has not so very formal a sound.--And yet it is formal. +I want you to call me something else, but I do not know what." + +"I remember once calling you `George,' in one of my amiable fits, +about ten years ago. I did it because I thought it would offend you; +but, as you made no objection, I never did it again." + +"And cannot you call me `George' now?" + +"Impossible!--I never can call you any thing but `Mr. Knightley.' +I will not promise even to equal the elegant terseness of Mrs. Elton, +by calling you Mr. K.--But I will promise," she added presently, +laughing and blushing--"I will promise to call you once by your +Christian name. I do not say when, but perhaps you may guess +where;--in the building in which N. takes M. for better, for worse." + +Emma grieved that she could not be more openly just to one +important service which his better sense would have rendered her, +to the advice which would have saved her from the worst of all +her womanly follies--her wilful intimacy with Harriet Smith; +but it was too tender a subject.--She could not enter on it.-- +Harriet was very seldom mentioned between them. This, on his side, +might merely proceed from her not being thought of; but Emma +was rather inclined to attribute it to delicacy, and a suspicion, +from some appearances, that their friendship were declining. +She was aware herself, that, parting under any other circumstances, +they certainly should have corresponded more, and that her +intelligence would not have rested, as it now almost wholly did, +on Isabella's letters. He might observe that it was so. The pain +of being obliged to practise concealment towards him, was very little +inferior to the pain of having made Harriet unhappy. + +Isabella sent quite as good an account of her visitor as could +be expected; on her first arrival she had thought her out of spirits, +which appeared perfectly natural, as there was a dentist to +be consulted; but, since that business had been over, she did not +appear to find Harriet different from what she had known her before.-- +Isabella, to be sure, was no very quick observer; yet if Harriet +had not been equal to playing with the children, it would not have +escaped her. Emma's comforts and hopes were most agreeably carried on, +by Harriet's being to stay longer; her fortnight was likely to be +a month at least. Mr. and Mrs. John Knightley were to come down +in August, and she was invited to remain till they could bring her back. + +"John does not even mention your friend," said Mr. Knightley. +"Here is his answer, if you like to see it." + +It was the answer to the communication of his intended marriage. +Emma accepted it with a very eager hand, with an impatience all alive +to know what he would say about it, and not at all checked by hearing +that her friend was unmentioned. + +"John enters like a brother into my happiness," continued Mr. Knightley, +"but he is no complimenter; and though I well know him to have, +likewise, a most brotherly affection for you, he is so far from +making flourishes, that any other young woman might think him rather +cool in her praise. But I am not afraid of your seeing what he writes." + +"He writes like a sensible man," replied Emma, when she had read +the letter. "I honour his sincerity. It is very plain that he +considers the good fortune of the engagement as all on my side, +but that he is not without hope of my growing, in time, as worthy +of your affection, as you think me already. Had he said any thing +to bear a different construction, I should not have believed him." + +"My Emma, he means no such thing. He only means--" + +"He and I should differ very little in our estimation of the two," +interrupted she, with a sort of serious smile--"much less, perhaps, +than he is aware of, if we could enter without ceremony or reserve +on the subject." + +"Emma, my dear Emma--" + +"Oh!" she cried with more thorough gaiety, "if you fancy your +brother does not do me justice, only wait till my dear father is in +the secret, and hear his opinion. Depend upon it, he will be much +farther from doing _you_ justice. He will think all the happiness, +all the advantage, on your side of the question; all the merit +on mine. I wish I may not sink into `poor Emma' with him at once.-- +His tender compassion towards oppressed worth can go no farther." + +"Ah!" he cried, "I wish your father might be half as easily convinced +as John will be, of our having every right that equal worth can give, +to be happy together. I am amused by one part of John's letter-- +did you notice it?--where he says, that my information did not take +him wholly by surprize, that he was rather in expectation of hearing +something of the kind." + +"If I understand your brother, he only means so far as your having +some thoughts of marrying. He had no idea of me. He seems perfectly +unprepared for that." + +"Yes, yes--but I am amused that he should have seen so far into +my feelings. What has he been judging by?--I am not conscious +of any difference in my spirits or conversation that could prepare +him at this time for my marrying any more than at another.-- +But it was so, I suppose. I dare say there was a difference when I +was staying with them the other day. I believe I did not play +with the children quite so much as usual. I remember one evening +the poor boys saying, `Uncle seems always tired now.'" + +The time was coming when the news must spread farther, and other persons' +reception of it tried. As soon as Mrs. Weston was sufficiently +recovered to admit Mr. Woodhouse's visits, Emma having it in view +that her gentle reasonings should be employed in the cause, +resolved first to announce it at home, and then at Randalls.-- +But how to break it to her father at last!--She had bound herself +to do it, in such an hour of Mr. Knightley's absence, or when it +came to the point her heart would have failed her, and she must +have put it off; but Mr. Knightley was to come at such a time, +and follow up the beginning she was to make.--She was forced +to speak, and to speak cheerfully too. She must not make it a more +decided subject of misery to him, by a melancholy tone herself. +She must not appear to think it a misfortune.--With all the spirits +she could command, she prepared him first for something strange, +and then, in a few words, said, that if his consent and approbation +could be obtained--which, she trusted, would be attended with +no difficulty, since it was a plan to promote the happiness of all-- +she and Mr. Knightley meant to marry; by which means Hartfield +would receive the constant addition of that person's company +whom she knew he loved, next to his daughters and Mrs. Weston, +best in the world. + +Poor man!--it was at first a considerable shock to him, and he tried +earnestly to dissuade her from it. She was reminded, more than once, +of having always said she would never marry, and assured that it +would be a great deal better for her to remain single; and told of +poor Isabella, and poor Miss Taylor.--But it would not do. Emma hung +about him affectionately, and smiled, and said it must be so; and that +he must not class her with Isabella and Mrs. Weston, whose marriages +taking them from Hartfield, had, indeed, made a melancholy change: +but she was not going from Hartfield; she should be always there; +she was introducing no change in their numbers or their comforts but +for the better; and she was very sure that he would be a great deal +the happier for having Mr. Knightley always at hand, when he were once +got used to the idea.--Did he not love Mr. Knightley very much?-- +He would not deny that he did, she was sure.--Whom did he ever want +to consult on business but Mr. Knightley?--Who was so useful to him, +who so ready to write his letters, who so glad to assist him?-- +Who so cheerful, so attentive, so attached to him?--Would not he +like to have him always on the spot?--Yes. That was all very true. +Mr. Knightley could not be there too often; he should be glad to see +him every day;--but they did see him every day as it was.--Why could +not they go on as they had done? + +Mr. Woodhouse could not be soon reconciled; but the worst was overcome, +the idea was given; time and continual repetition must do the rest.-- +To Emma's entreaties and assurances succeeded Mr. Knightley's, +whose fond praise of her gave the subject even a kind of welcome; +and he was soon used to be talked to by each, on every fair occasion.-- +They had all the assistance which Isabella could give, by letters +of the strongest approbation; and Mrs. Weston was ready, +on the first meeting, to consider the subject in the most +serviceable light--first, as a settled, and, secondly, as a good one-- +well aware of the nearly equal importance of the two recommendations +to Mr. Woodhouse's mind.--It was agreed upon, as what was to be; +and every body by whom he was used to be guided assuring him that +it would be for his happiness; and having some feelings himself +which almost admitted it, he began to think that some time or other-- +in another year or two, perhaps--it might not be so very bad +if the marriage did take place. + +Mrs. Weston was acting no part, feigning no feelings in all that she +said to him in favour of the event.--She had been extremely surprized, +never more so, than when Emma first opened the affair to her; +but she saw in it only increase of happiness to all, and had +no scruple in urging him to the utmost.--She had such a regard +for Mr. Knightley, as to think he deserved even her dearest Emma; +and it was in every respect so proper, suitable, and unexceptionable +a connexion, and in one respect, one point of the highest importance, +so peculiarly eligible, so singularly fortunate, that now it seemed +as if Emma could not safely have attached herself to any other creature, +and that she had herself been the stupidest of beings in not having +thought of it, and wished it long ago.--How very few of those men +in a rank of life to address Emma would have renounced their own +home for Hartfield! And who but Mr. Knightley could know and bear +with Mr. Woodhouse, so as to make such an arrangement desirable!-- +The difficulty of disposing of poor Mr. Woodhouse had been always +felt in her husband's plans and her own, for a marriage between Frank +and Emma. How to settle the claims of Enscombe and Hartfield had +been a continual impediment--less acknowledged by Mr. Weston than +by herself--but even he had never been able to finish the subject +better than by saying--"Those matters will take care of themselves; +the young people will find a way." But here there was nothing to be +shifted off in a wild speculation on the future. It was all right, +all open, all equal. No sacrifice on any side worth the name. +It was a union of the highest promise of felicity in itself, +and without one real, rational difficulty to oppose or delay it. + +Mrs. Weston, with her baby on her knee, indulging in such reflections +as these, was one of the happiest women in the world. If any thing +could increase her delight, it was perceiving that the baby would +soon have outgrown its first set of caps. + +The news was universally a surprize wherever it spread; +and Mr. Weston had his five minutes share of it; but five minutes +were enough to familiarise the idea to his quickness of mind.-- +He saw the advantages of the match, and rejoiced in them with all +the constancy of his wife; but the wonder of it was very soon nothing; +and by the end of an hour he was not far from believing that he +had always foreseen it. + +"It is to be a secret, I conclude," said he. "These matters are +always a secret, till it is found out that every body knows them. +Only let me be told when I may speak out.--I wonder whether Jane has +any suspicion." + +He went to Highbury the next morning, and satisfied himself on +that point. He told her the news. Was not she like a daughter, +his eldest daughter?--he must tell her; and Miss Bates being present, +it passed, of course, to Mrs. Cole, Mrs. Perry, and Mrs. Elton, +immediately afterwards. It was no more than the principals were +prepared for; they had calculated from the time of its being known +at Randalls, how soon it would be over Highbury; and were thinking +of themselves, as the evening wonder in many a family circle, +with great sagacity. + +In general, it was a very well approved match. Some might think him, +and others might think her, the most in luck. One set might +recommend their all removing to Donwell, and leaving Hartfield +for the John Knightleys; and another might predict disagreements +among their servants; but yet, upon the whole, there was no serious +objection raised, except in one habitation, the Vicarage.--There, +the surprize was not softened by any satisfaction. Mr. Elton +cared little about it, compared with his wife; he only hoped "the +young lady's pride would now be contented;" and supposed "she had +always meant to catch Knightley if she could;" and, on the point +of living at Hartfield, could daringly exclaim, "Rather he than I!"-- +But Mrs. Elton was very much discomposed indeed.--"Poor Knightley! +poor fellow!--sad business for him.--She was extremely concerned; +for, though very eccentric, he had a thousand good qualities.-- +How could he be so taken in?--Did not think him at all in love-- +not in the least.--Poor Knightley!--There would be an end of all +pleasant intercourse with him.--How happy he had been to come and dine +with them whenever they asked him! But that would be all over now.-- +Poor fellow!--No more exploring parties to Donwell made for _her_. +Oh! no; there would be a Mrs. Knightley to throw cold water on +every thing.--Extremely disagreeable! But she was not at all sorry +that she had abused the housekeeper the other day.--Shocking plan, +living together. It would never do. She knew a family near Maple +Grove who had tried it, and been obliged to separate before the end +of the first quarter. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +Time passed on. A few more to-morrows, and the party from London +would be arriving. It was an alarming change; and Emma was thinking +of it one morning, as what must bring a great deal to agitate and +grieve her, when Mr. Knightley came in, and distressing thoughts +were put by. After the first chat of pleasure he was silent; +and then, in a graver tone, began with, + +"I have something to tell you, Emma; some news." + +"Good or bad?" said she, quickly, looking up in his face. + +"I do not know which it ought to be called." + +"Oh! good I am sure.--I see it in your countenance. You are trying +not to smile." + +"I am afraid," said he, composing his features, "I am very much afraid, +my dear Emma, that you will not smile when you hear it." + +"Indeed! but why so?--I can hardly imagine that any thing which +pleases or amuses you, should not please and amuse me too." + +"There is one subject," he replied, "I hope but one, on which +we do not think alike." He paused a moment, again smiling, +with his eyes fixed on her face. "Does nothing occur to you?-- +Do not you recollect?--Harriet Smith." + +Her cheeks flushed at the name, and she felt afraid of something, +though she knew not what. + +"Have you heard from her yourself this morning?" cried he. +"You have, I believe, and know the whole." + +"No, I have not; I know nothing; pray tell me." + +"You are prepared for the worst, I see--and very bad it is. +Harriet Smith marries Robert Martin." + +Emma gave a start, which did not seem like being prepared-- +and her eyes, in eager gaze, said, "No, this is impossible!" +but her lips were closed. + +"It is so, indeed," continued Mr. Knightley; "I have it from Robert +Martin himself. He left me not half an hour ago." + +She was still looking at him with the most speaking amazement. + +"You like it, my Emma, as little as I feared.--I wish our opinions were +the same. But in time they will. Time, you may be sure, will make +one or the other of us think differently; and, in the meanwhile, +we need not talk much on the subject." + +"You mistake me, you quite mistake me," she replied, exerting herself. +"It is not that such a circumstance would now make me unhappy, +but I cannot believe it. It seems an impossibility!--You cannot mean +to say, that Harriet Smith has accepted Robert Martin. You cannot +mean that he has even proposed to her again--yet. You only mean, +that he intends it." + +"I mean that he has done it," answered Mr. Knightley, with smiling +but determined decision, "and been accepted." + +"Good God!" she cried.--"Well!"--Then having recourse to her workbasket, +in excuse for leaning down her face, and concealing all the +exquisite feelings of delight and entertainment which she knew she +must be expressing, she added, "Well, now tell me every thing; +make this intelligible to me. How, where, when?--Let me know it all. +I never was more surprized--but it does not make me unhappy, +I assure you.--How--how has it been possible?" + +"It is a very simple story. He went to town on business three days ago, +and I got him to take charge of some papers which I was wanting +to send to John.--He delivered these papers to John, at his chambers, +and was asked by him to join their party the same evening to Astley's. +They were going to take the two eldest boys to Astley's. The party +was to be our brother and sister, Henry, John--and Miss Smith. +My friend Robert could not resist. They called for him in their way; +were all extremely amused; and my brother asked him to dine with +them the next day--which he did--and in the course of that visit +(as I understand) he found an opportunity of speaking to Harriet; +and certainly did not speak in vain.--She made him, by her acceptance, +as happy even as he is deserving. He came down by yesterday's coach, +and was with me this morning immediately after breakfast, to report +his proceedings, first on my affairs, and then on his own. +This is all that I can relate of the how, where, and when. +Your friend Harriet will make a much longer history when you see her.-- +She will give you all the minute particulars, which only woman's +language can make interesting.--In our communications we deal only +in the great.--However, I must say, that Robert Martin's heart seemed +for _him_, and to _me_, very overflowing; and that he did mention, +without its being much to the purpose, that on quitting their +box at Astley's, my brother took charge of Mrs. John Knightley +and little John, and he followed with Miss Smith and Henry; +and that at one time they were in such a crowd, as to make Miss Smith +rather uneasy." + +He stopped.--Emma dared not attempt any immediate reply. To speak, +she was sure would be to betray a most unreasonable degree +of happiness. She must wait a moment, or he would think her mad. +Her silence disturbed him; and after observing her a little while, +he added, + +"Emma, my love, you said that this circumstance would not now make +you unhappy; but I am afraid it gives you more pain than you expected. +His situation is an evil--but you must consider it as what satisfies +your friend; and I will answer for your thinking better and better +of him as you know him more. His good sense and good principles would +delight you.--As far as the man is concerned, you could not wish your +friend in better hands. His rank in society I would alter if I could, +which is saying a great deal I assure you, Emma.--You laugh at me +about William Larkins; but I could quite as ill spare Robert Martin." + +He wanted her to look up and smile; and having now brought herself +not to smile too broadly--she did--cheerfully answering, + +"You need not be at any pains to reconcile me to the match. I think +Harriet is doing extremely well. _Her_ connexions may be worse than _his_. +In respectability of character, there can be no doubt that they are. +I have been silent from surprize merely, excessive surprize. +You cannot imagine how suddenly it has come on me! how peculiarly +unprepared I was!--for I had reason to believe her very lately more +determined against him, much more, than she was before." + +"You ought to know your friend best," replied Mr. Knightley; +"but I should say she was a good-tempered, soft-hearted girl, +not likely to be very, very determined against any young man who told +her he loved her." + +Emma could not help laughing as she answered, "Upon my word, +I believe you know her quite as well as I do.--But, Mr. Knightley, +are you perfectly sure that she has absolutely and downright +_accepted_ him. I could suppose she might in time--but can she already?-- +Did not you misunderstand him?--You were both talking of other things; +of business, shows of cattle, or new drills--and might not you, +in the confusion of so many subjects, mistake him?--It was not +Harriet's hand that he was certain of--it was the dimensions of some +famous ox." + +The contrast between the countenance and air of Mr. Knightley and +Robert Martin was, at this moment, so strong to Emma's feelings, +and so strong was the recollection of all that had so recently +passed on Harriet's side, so fresh the sound of those words, +spoken with such emphasis, "No, I hope I know better than to think +of Robert Martin," that she was really expecting the intelligence +to prove, in some measure, premature. It could not be otherwise. + +"Do you dare say this?" cried Mr. Knightley. "Do you dare to suppose +me so great a blockhead, as not to know what a man is talking of?-- +What do you deserve?" + +"Oh! I always deserve the best treatment, because I never put +up with any other; and, therefore, you must give me a plain, +direct answer. Are you quite sure that you understand the terms +on which Mr. Martin and Harriet now are?" + +"I am quite sure," he replied, speaking very distinctly, "that he +told me she had accepted him; and that there was no obscurity, +nothing doubtful, in the words he used; and I think I can give you +a proof that it must be so. He asked my opinion as to what he +was now to do. He knew of no one but Mrs. Goddard to whom he +could apply for information of her relations or friends. Could I +mention any thing more fit to be done, than to go to Mrs. Goddard? +I assured him that I could not. Then, he said, he would endeavour +to see her in the course of this day." + +"I am perfectly satisfied," replied Emma, with the brightest smiles, +"and most sincerely wish them happy." + +"You are materially changed since we talked on this subject before." + +"I hope so--for at that time I was a fool." + +"And I am changed also; for I am now very willing to grant you all +Harriet's good qualities. I have taken some pains for your sake, +and for Robert Martin's sake, (whom I have always had reason to believe +as much in love with her as ever,) to get acquainted with her. +I have often talked to her a good deal. You must have seen that +I did. Sometimes, indeed, I have thought you were half suspecting me +of pleading poor Martin's cause, which was never the case; but, from all +my observations, I am convinced of her being an artless, amiable girl, +with very good notions, very seriously good principles, and placing +her happiness in the affections and utility of domestic life.-- +Much of this, I have no doubt, she may thank you for." + +"Me!" cried Emma, shaking her head.--"Ah! poor Harriet!" + +She checked herself, however, and submitted quietly to a little +more praise than she deserved. + +Their conversation was soon afterwards closed by the entrance of +her father. She was not sorry. She wanted to be alone. Her mind +was in a state of flutter and wonder, which made it impossible for her +to be collected. She was in dancing, singing, exclaiming spirits; +and till she had moved about, and talked to herself, and laughed +and reflected, she could be fit for nothing rational. + +Her father's business was to announce James's being gone out to put +the horses to, preparatory to their now daily drive to Randalls; +and she had, therefore, an immediate excuse for disappearing. + +The joy, the gratitude, the exquisite delight of her sensations +may be imagined. The sole grievance and alloy thus removed in the +prospect of Harriet's welfare, she was really in danger of becoming +too happy for security.--What had she to wish for? Nothing, but to +grow more worthy of him, whose intentions and judgment had been +ever so superior to her own. Nothing, but that the lessons +of her past folly might teach her humility and circumspection in future. + +Serious she was, very serious in her thankfulness, and in her resolutions; +and yet there was no preventing a laugh, sometimes in the very midst +of them. She must laugh at such a close! Such an end of the doleful +disappointment of five weeks back! Such a heart--such a Harriet! + +Now there would be pleasure in her returning--Every thing would +be a pleasure. It would be a great pleasure to know Robert Martin. + +High in the rank of her most serious and heartfelt felicities, +was the reflection that all necessity of concealment from +Mr. Knightley would soon be over. The disguise, equivocation, +mystery, so hateful to her to practise, might soon be over. +She could now look forward to giving him that full and perfect +confidence which her disposition was most ready to welcome as a duty. + +In the gayest and happiest spirits she set forward with her father; +not always listening, but always agreeing to what he said; +and, whether in speech or silence, conniving at the comfortable +persuasion of his being obliged to go to Randalls every day, +or poor Mrs. Weston would be disappointed. + +They arrived.--Mrs. Weston was alone in the drawing-room:-- +but hardly had they been told of the baby, and Mr. Woodhouse +received the thanks for coming, which he asked for, when a glimpse +was caught through the blind, of two figures passing near the window. + +"It is Frank and Miss Fairfax," said Mrs. Weston. "I was just +going to tell you of our agreeable surprize in seeing him arrive +this morning. He stays till to-morrow, and Miss Fairfax has been +persuaded to spend the day with us.--They are coming in, I hope." + +In half a minute they were in the room. Emma was extremely glad +to see him--but there was a degree of confusion--a number of +embarrassing recollections on each side. They met readily and smiling, +but with a consciousness which at first allowed little to be said; +and having all sat down again, there was for some time such a blank +in the circle, that Emma began to doubt whether the wish now indulged, +which she had long felt, of seeing Frank Churchill once more, +and of seeing him with Jane, would yield its proportion of pleasure. +When Mr. Weston joined the party, however, and when the baby +was fetched, there was no longer a want of subject or animation-- +or of courage and opportunity for Frank Churchill to draw near her +and say, + +"I have to thank you, Miss Woodhouse, for a very kind forgiving +message in one of Mrs. Weston's letters. I hope time has not made +you less willing to pardon. I hope you do not retract what you +then said." + +"No, indeed," cried Emma, most happy to begin, "not in the least. +I am particularly glad to see and shake hands with you--and to give +you joy in person." + +He thanked her with all his heart, and continued some time to speak +with serious feeling of his gratitude and happiness. + +"Is not she looking well?" said he, turning his eyes towards Jane. +"Better than she ever used to do?--You see how my father and +Mrs. Weston doat upon her." + +But his spirits were soon rising again, and with laughing eyes, +after mentioning the expected return of the Campbells, he named +the name of Dixon.--Emma blushed, and forbade its being pronounced +in her hearing. + +"I can never think of it," she cried, "without extreme shame." + +"The shame," he answered, "is all mine, or ought to be. But is it +possible that you had no suspicion?--I mean of late. Early, I know, +you had none." + +"I never had the smallest, I assure you." + +"That appears quite wonderful. I was once very near--and I wish I had-- +it would have been better. But though I was always doing wrong things, +they were very bad wrong things, and such as did me no service.-- +It would have been a much better transgression had I broken the bond +of secrecy and told you every thing." + +"It is not now worth a regret," said Emma. + +"I have some hope," resumed he, "of my uncle's being persuaded +to pay a visit at Randalls; he wants to be introduced to her. +When the Campbells are returned, we shall meet them in London, +and continue there, I trust, till we may carry her northward.--But now, +I am at such a distance from her--is not it hard, Miss Woodhouse?-- +Till this morning, we have not once met since the day of reconciliation. +Do not you pity me?" + +Emma spoke her pity so very kindly, that with a sudden accession +of gay thought, he cried, + +"Ah! by the bye," then sinking his voice, and looking demure for +the moment--"I hope Mr. Knightley is well?" He paused.--She coloured +and laughed.--"I know you saw my letter, and think you may remember +my wish in your favour. Let me return your congratulations.-- +I assure you that I have heard the news with the warmest interest +and satisfaction.--He is a man whom I cannot presume to praise." + +Emma was delighted, and only wanted him to go on in the same style; +but his mind was the next moment in his own concerns and with his +own Jane, and his next words were, + +"Did you ever see such a skin?--such smoothness! such delicacy!-- +and yet without being actually fair.--One cannot call her fair. +It is a most uncommon complexion, with her dark eye-lashes and hair-- +a most distinguishing complexion! So peculiarly the lady in it.-- +Just colour enough for beauty." + +"I have always admired her complexion," replied Emma, archly; "but do not +I remember the time when you found fault with her for being so pale?-- +When we first began to talk of her.--Have you quite forgotten?" + +"Oh! no--what an impudent dog I was!--How could I dare--" + +But he laughed so heartily at the recollection, that Emma could +not help saying, + +"I do suspect that in the midst of your perplexities at that time, +you had very great amusement in tricking us all.--I am sure you had.-- +I am sure it was a consolation to you." + +"Oh! no, no, no--how can you suspect me of such a thing? +I was the most miserable wretch!" + +"Not quite so miserable as to be insensible to mirth. I am sure it +was a source of high entertainment to you, to feel that you were taking +us all in.--Perhaps I am the readier to suspect, because, to tell +you the truth, I think it might have been some amusement to myself +in the same situation. I think there is a little likeness between us." + +He bowed. + +"If not in our dispositions," she presently added, with a look of +true sensibility, "there is a likeness in our destiny; the destiny +which bids fair to connect us with two characters so much superior +to our own." + +"True, true," he answered, warmly. "No, not true on your side. You can +have no superior, but most true on mine.--She is a complete angel. +Look at her. Is not she an angel in every gesture? Observe the turn +of her throat. Observe her eyes, as she is looking up at my father.-- +You will be glad to hear (inclining his head, and whispering seriously) +that my uncle means to give her all my aunt's jewels. They are to be +new set. I am resolved to have some in an ornament for the head. +Will not it be beautiful in her dark hair?" + +"Very beautiful, indeed," replied Emma; and she spoke so kindly, +that he gratefully burst out, + +"How delighted I am to see you again! and to see you in such +excellent looks!--I would not have missed this meeting for the world. +I should certainly have called at Hartfield, had you failed to come." + +The others had been talking of the child, Mrs. Weston giving an +account of a little alarm she had been under, the evening before, +from the infant's appearing not quite well. She believed she had +been foolish, but it had alarmed her, and she had been within half +a minute of sending for Mr. Perry. Perhaps she ought to be ashamed, +but Mr. Weston had been almost as uneasy as herself.--In ten minutes, +however, the child had been perfectly well again. This was +her history; and particularly interesting it was to Mr. Woodhouse, +who commended her very much for thinking of sending for Perry, +and only regretted that she had not done it. "She should always send +for Perry, if the child appeared in the slightest degree disordered, +were it only for a moment. She could not be too soon alarmed, +nor send for Perry too often. It was a pity, perhaps, that he +had not come last night; for, though the child seemed well now, +very well considering, it would probably have been better if Perry +had seen it." + +Frank Churchill caught the name. + +"Perry!" said he to Emma, and trying, as he spoke, to catch Miss +Fairfax's eye. "My friend Mr. Perry! What are they saying +about Mr. Perry?--Has he been here this morning?--And how does +he travel now?--Has he set up his carriage?" + +Emma soon recollected, and understood him; and while she joined +in the laugh, it was evident from Jane's countenance that she +too was really hearing him, though trying to seem deaf. + +"Such an extraordinary dream of mine!" he cried. "I can never think +of it without laughing.--She hears us, she hears us, Miss Woodhouse. +I see it in her cheek, her smile, her vain attempt to frown. +Look at her. Do not you see that, at this instant, the very passage +of her own letter, which sent me the report, is passing under her eye-- +that the whole blunder is spread before her--that she can attend to +nothing else, though pretending to listen to the others?" + +Jane was forced to smile completely, for a moment; and the smile +partly remained as she turned towards him, and said in a conscious, +low, yet steady voice, + +"How you can bear such recollections, is astonishing to me!-- +They _will_ sometimes obtrude--but how you can court them!" + +He had a great deal to say in return, and very entertainingly; +but Emma's feelings were chiefly with Jane, in the argument; and on +leaving Randalls, and falling naturally into a comparison of the two men, +she felt, that pleased as she had been to see Frank Churchill, +and really regarding him as she did with friendship, she had never +been more sensible of Mr. Knightley's high superiority of character. +The happiness of this most happy day, received its completion, in the +animated contemplation of his worth which this comparison produced. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +If Emma had still, at intervals, an anxious feeling for Harriet, +a momentary doubt of its being possible for her to be really cured +of her attachment to Mr. Knightley, and really able to accept +another man from unbiased inclination, it was not long that she +had to suffer from the recurrence of any such uncertainty. +A very few days brought the party from London, and she had no +sooner an opportunity of being one hour alone with Harriet, +than she became perfectly satisfied--unaccountable as it was!-- +that Robert Martin had thoroughly supplanted Mr. Knightley, +and was now forming all her views of happiness. + +Harriet was a little distressed--did look a little foolish at first: +but having once owned that she had been presumptuous and silly, +and self-deceived, before, her pain and confusion seemed to die +away with the words, and leave her without a care for the past, +and with the fullest exultation in the present and future; for, as to +her friend's approbation, Emma had instantly removed every fear of +that nature, by meeting her with the most unqualified congratulations.-- +Harriet was most happy to give every particular of the evening at +Astley's, and the dinner the next day; she could dwell on it all +with the utmost delight. But what did such particulars explain?-- +The fact was, as Emma could now acknowledge, that Harriet had +always liked Robert Martin; and that his continuing to love her had +been irresistible.--Beyond this, it must ever be unintelligible +to Emma. + +The event, however, was most joyful; and every day was giving her +fresh reason for thinking so.--Harriet's parentage became known. +She proved to be the daughter of a tradesman, rich enough to afford +her the comfortable maintenance which had ever been hers, and decent +enough to have always wished for concealment.--Such was the blood +of gentility which Emma had formerly been so ready to vouch for!-- +It was likely to be as untainted, perhaps, as the blood of many +a gentleman: but what a connexion had she been preparing for +Mr. Knightley--or for the Churchills--or even for Mr. Elton!-- +The stain of illegitimacy, unbleached by nobility or wealth, +would have been a stain indeed. + +No objection was raised on the father's side; the young man was +treated liberally; it was all as it should be: and as Emma became +acquainted with Robert Martin, who was now introduced at Hartfield, +she fully acknowledged in him all the appearance of sense and worth +which could bid fairest for her little friend. She had no doubt +of Harriet's happiness with any good-tempered man; but with him, +and in the home he offered, there would be the hope of more, +of security, stability, and improvement. She would be placed in the +midst of those who loved her, and who had better sense than herself; +retired enough for safety, and occupied enough for cheerfulness. +She would be never led into temptation, nor left for it to find her out. +She would be respectable and happy; and Emma admitted her to be +the luckiest creature in the world, to have created so steady and +persevering an affection in such a man;--or, if not quite the luckiest, +to yield only to herself. + +Harriet, necessarily drawn away by her engagements with the Martins, +was less and less at Hartfield; which was not to be regretted.-- +The intimacy between her and Emma must sink; their friendship must +change into a calmer sort of goodwill; and, fortunately, what ought +to be, and must be, seemed already beginning, and in the most gradual, +natural manner. + +Before the end of September, Emma attended Harriet to church, and saw +her hand bestowed on Robert Martin with so complete a satisfaction, +as no remembrances, even connected with Mr. Elton as he stood +before them, could impair.--Perhaps, indeed, at that time she +scarcely saw Mr. Elton, but as the clergyman whose blessing at the +altar might next fall on herself.--Robert Martin and Harriet Smith, +the latest couple engaged of the three, were the first to be married. + +Jane Fairfax had already quitted Highbury, and was restored to the +comforts of her beloved home with the Campbells.--The Mr. Churchills +were also in town; and they were only waiting for November. + +The intermediate month was the one fixed on, as far as they dared, +by Emma and Mr. Knightley.--They had determined that their marriage +ought to be concluded while John and Isabella were still at Hartfield, +to allow them the fortnight's absence in a tour to the seaside, +which was the plan.--John and Isabella, and every other friend, +were agreed in approving it. But Mr. Woodhouse--how was Mr. Woodhouse +to be induced to consent?--he, who had never yet alluded to their +marriage but as a distant event. + +When first sounded on the subject, he was so miserable, that they +were almost hopeless.--A second allusion, indeed, gave less pain.-- +He began to think it was to be, and that he could not prevent it-- +a very promising step of the mind on its way to resignation. +Still, however, he was not happy. Nay, he appeared so much otherwise, +that his daughter's courage failed. She could not bear to see +him suffering, to know him fancying himself neglected; and though +her understanding almost acquiesced in the assurance of both the +Mr. Knightleys, that when once the event were over, his distress +would be soon over too, she hesitated--she could not proceed. + +In this state of suspense they were befriended, not by any sudden +illumination of Mr. Woodhouse's mind, or any wonderful change of his +nervous system, but by the operation of the same system in another way.-- +Mrs. Weston's poultry-house was robbed one night of all her turkeys-- +evidently by the ingenuity of man. Other poultry-yards in the +neighbourhood also suffered.--Pilfering was _housebreaking_ to +Mr. Woodhouse's fears.--He was very uneasy; and but for the sense +of his son-in-law's protection, would have been under wretched alarm +every night of his life. The strength, resolution, and presence +of mind of the Mr. Knightleys, commanded his fullest dependence. +While either of them protected him and his, Hartfield was safe.-- +But Mr. John Knightley must be in London again by the end of the +first week in November. + +The result of this distress was, that, with a much more voluntary, +cheerful consent than his daughter had ever presumed to hope for at +the moment, she was able to fix her wedding-day--and Mr. Elton was +called on, within a month from the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Robert +Martin, to join the hands of Mr. Knightley and Miss Woodhouse. + +The wedding was very much like other weddings, where the parties +have no taste for finery or parade; and Mrs. Elton, from the +particulars detailed by her husband, thought it all extremely shabby, +and very inferior to her own.--"Very little white satin, very few +lace veils; a most pitiful business!--Selina would stare when she +heard of it."--But, in spite of these deficiencies, the wishes, +the hopes, the confidence, the predictions of the small band +of true friends who witnessed the ceremony, were fully answered +in the perfect happiness of the union. + + +FINIS + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Emma, by Jane Austen + + +