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ter a i i walter of ha was a man who for c lent never took up any book but the there he found occupation for an idle hour and consolation in a distressed one there his faculties were roused into admiration and respect by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest any unwelcome arising from domestic changed naturally into pity and contempt as he turned the almost endless of the last century and there if every other leaf were powerless he could read hia own history with an interest which never this was the page at which the favourite opened of walter born march i married july elizabeth daughter of james q of south park in the county of by lady who died t oo he issue elizabeth june anne bom august till bom son november j mary bom ber persuasion precisely such had the paragraph originally stood from the s hands but sir walter had improved it by adding for the information of himself and his family these words after the date of mary s birth married december o charles son and heir of charles esq of in the county of and by most accurately the day of the month on which he had lost his wife then followed the history and rise of the ancient and respectable family in the usual terms how it had been first settled in how mentioned in serving the office of high representing a in three successive exertions of loyalty and dignity of in the first year of charles ii with all the and they had married forming altogether two handsome pages and concluding with the arms and motto principal seat hall in the county of and sir walter s handwriting again in this heir william walter esq great of the second sir walter vanity was the beginning and end of sir walter s character vanity of person and of situation he had been remarkably handsome in his youth and at fifty four was still a very fine man few women could think more of their personal appearance than he did nor could the of any new made lord be more delighted with the place he held in society he considered the blessing of beauty as inferior only to the blessing of a and the sir walter v ho united these gifts was the constant object of his warmest respect and devotion his good looks and his rank had one fair claim on his attachment since to them he must have owed a wife persuasion of very superior character to anything deserved by his own lady had been an excellent woman sensible and amiable whose judgment and conduct if they might be the youthful which made her lady had never required indulgence afterwards she had humoured or softened or concealed his and promoted hia real respectability for seventeen years and though not the very happiest b ng in the world herself liad found enough in her duties her friends and her children to attach her to life and make it no matter of to her when she was called on to quit them three girls the two eldest sixteen and fourteen was an awful for a mother to an awful charge rather to confide to the authority and guidance of a conceited silly ther she had however one very intimate friend a deserving woman who had been brought by attachment to herself to settle close by her in the of and on her kindness and lady mainly relied for the best help and of the good principles and instruction she had been anxiously giving her daughters this and sir walter did not marry whatever might have been anticipated on that head by their acquaintance thirteen years had passed away since lady s death and they were near neighbours and intimate friends and one remained a the a widow that lady of steady age and character and extremely well provided for should have no thought of t marriage needs no apology to the public which is rather apt to be discontented when a woman marry again than when she does but sir s continuing in requires be it known then that sir walter like a ood father having met with one or two private dis persuasion in very unreasonable himself on remaining single for his dear daughter s sake for one daughter his eldest he would really have given up anything which he had not been very much tempted to do elizabeth had succeeded at sixteen to all that was possible of her mother s rights and consequence and being very handsome and very like himself her influence had always been great and they had gone on together most happily his two other children were of very inferior value mary had acquired a little artificial importance by becoming mrs charles but anne with an elegance of mind and sweetness of character which must have placed her high with any people of real understanding was nobody with either or sister her word had no weight her convenience was always to give way she was only anne to lady indeed she was a most dear and highly valued god daughter favourite and friend lady loved them all but it was only in anne that she could fancy the mother to revive again a few years before anne had been a very pretty girl but her bloom had vanished early and as even in its height her father had found little to admire in her so totally different were her delicate features and mild dark eyes from his own there could be nothing in them now that she was faded and thin to excite his esteem he had never indulged much hope he had now none of ever reading her name in any other page of his favourite work all equality of alliance must rest with elizabeth for mary had merely connected herself with an old country	26
family of respectability and large fortune and had therefore given all the honour and received none elizabeth would one day or other marry it sometimes happens that a woman is at twenty nine than she was ten years before and persuasion generally speaking if there has been neither ill health nor anxiety it is a time of life at which scarcely any charm is lost it was bo with elizabeth the same handsome miss that she had begun to be thirteen years ago and sir walter might be excused therefore in forgetting her age or at least he deemed only half a fool for thinking himself and elizabeth as blooming aa ever amidst the wreck of the good looks of everybody else for he could plainly see how old all the rest of family and were growing anne haggard mary coarse every face in the neighbourhood and the rapid increase of the crow s foot about lady s temples had long been a distress to elizabeth did not quite equal her father in personal contentment thirteen years had seen her mistress of hall and directing with a and decision which could never have given the idea of her being younger than she was for thirteen years had e been doing the honours and laying down the law at home and leading the way to the chaise and four and walking immediately after lady oat of all the drawing rooms and dining rooms in the y thirteen revolving had seen her opening every ball of credit which a scanty afforded and thirteen springs their as she travelled up to london with her father few weeks annual enjoyment of the great world she had the remembrance of all this she had the con of being nine and twenty to give her some and some apprehensions she was fully satisfied quite aa handsome aa ever but she fell her approach to the years of danger and would have rejoiced to be certain of being by blood within the next or two might she again take up the book of books with persuasion ai much as in her early youth but now m m it to be presented with the date a her own birth and see no marriage follow but that of a youngest sister made the book an evil and more than once when her father had left it open on the table near her had she closed it with averted eyes and pushed it she had had a disappointment moreover which that book and especially the history of her own family must ever present the remembrance of the heir the very william walter esq whose lights had so generously supported by her father had disappointed lier she had while a very young girl as soon as she had him to be in the event of her having no brother the e meant to marry him and her father had always meant that she should he had not been known to them as a boy but soon after lady s death sir walter had sought the acquaintance and though his had not been met with any warmth he had in seeking it making allowance for the modest drawing back of youth and in one of spring excursions to london when elizabeth was in her first bloom mr had been forced into the he was at that time a very young man just engaged in the study of the law and elizabeth found him extremely agreeable and every plan in his favour was confirmed he was invited to hall he was talked of and expected all the rest of the year but he never came the following spring he was seen again in town found equally agreeable again encouraged invited and expected and again he did not come and the next tidings were that he was instead of pushing his fortune in the line marked out for the heir of the house of he had purchased independence rich woman of interior sir walter had resented it as the head of the he felt that he ought to have especially after taking the young man so publicly by the hand for they must have been seen together he observed once at s and twice in the of the house of hia was but apparently very little regarded mr had attempted no apology and himself as of being longer noticed by the family as sir walter considered him unworthy of it all acquaintance between them had ceased this very awkward history of mr was still after an interval of several years felt with anger by elizabeth who had the man for himself and more for being her s heir and whose strong family pride could sec only in him a proper match for sir walter s eldest daughter there was not a from a to z whom her feelings could have so acknowledged as an equal yet so miserably had he conducted himself that though she was at this time the summer of wearing black ribbons for his wife she could not admit him to be worth thinking of again the disgrace of his first marriage might as there was no reason to suppose it of ring have been got over had he not done worse be had as by the of kind they been informed spoken most y of them all most and contemptuously of the very blood he belonged to and the honours were hereafter to be his own this could not be were elizabeth s sentiments and such the cares to the to vary the and the elegance the prosperity and the persuasion of her scene of life such the feelings to give interest to a long residence in one country circle to fill the which there were no habits of utility abroad no talents or accomplishments for home to occupy but now another occupation and solicitude of mind was beginning to be added to these her father was growing distressed	26
for money she knew that when he now took up the it was to drive the heavy bills of his and the unwelcome hints of mr shepherd his agent from his thoughts the property was good but not equal to sir walter s of the state required in its possessor w lady lived there had been method moderation and economy which had just kept him within his income but with her had died all such and from that period he had been constantly exceeding it it had not been possible for him to spend less he had done nothing but what sir walter was called on to do but as he was he was not only growing dreadfully in debt but was hearing of it so often that it became vain to attempt concealing it longer even partially from his daughter he had given her some hints of it the last spring in town he had gone so far even as to say can we does it occur to you that there is any one article in which we can and elizabeth to do her justice had in the first of female alarm set seriously to think what could be done and had finally proposed these two branches of economy to cut oft some unnecessary and to refrain from new furnishing the drawing room to which she afterwards added the happy thought of their taking no present down to anne as had been the usual yearly custom but these measures however good in themselves were insufficient for the real extent of the evil persuasion the whole of which sir walter found himself obliged to confess to her soon afterwards elizabeth had nothing to propose of deeper she felt herself ill used and unfortunate as did her ther and they were neither of them able to devise any means of their expenses without their dignity or their comforts in a way not to be borne there was only a small part of his estate that sir walter could dispose of but had every acre been it would have made no difference he had condescended to as far as he had the power but he would never condescend to sell no he would never disgrace his name so far the estate should be whole and entire as he had received it their two confidential friends mr shepherd who in the neighbouring market town and lady were called on to advise them and both father and daughter seemed to expect that something should be struck out by one or the other to remove their and reduce their expenditure without the loss of any indulgence of taste or pride mr shepherd a civil cautious lawyer who whatever might be his hold or his views on sir walter would rather have the disagreeable prompted by anybody else excused himself from the slightest hint and only begged leave to recommend an reference to the excellent judgment of lady from whose known good sense he fully expected to have just such resolute measures advised as be meant to see finally adopted to persuasion wag most anxiously i subject and gave it much serious consideration was a woman rather of sound than of quick whose in coming to any decision in this ii were great from the opposition of two principles she was of strict integrity herself with delicate sense of honour but she was as desirous i saving sir walter s feelings as for the of the family as aristocratic in her ideas of what w due to them as anybody of sense and honesty could we be she was a benevolent charitable good and capable of most correct in h conduct strict in her notions of decorum and wit manners that were held a standard of good she had a cultivated mind and was generally speaking and consistent but she had prejudices on thi side of she had a value for rank and which blinded her a little to the of who possessed herself the widow of only i knight she gave the dignity of a all its due and sir walter independent of his claims as an ol acquaintance an attentive neighbour an obliging lord the husband of her very dear friend the father anne and her sisters was as bang sir walter in i entitled to a great deal of compassion a under his present they must that did not admit of a doubt but she was very anxious to have it done with the possible pain to him and elizabeth she drew up plan of economy she made exact calculations and i i what nobody else thought of doing she consulted who never seemed considered by the others as any interest in the question she consulted and in degree was influenced by her in marking out the of which was at last submitted to s walter of anne s had been on persuasion ii side of honesty against importance she wanted more vigorous measures a more complete a quicker release from debt a much higher tone of indifference for everything but justice and if we can persuade your father to all this said lady looking over her paper much may be done if he will adopt these in seven years he will be clear and hope we may be able to convince him and elizabeth that hall has a respectability in itself which cannot be affected by these and that the true dignity of sir walter will be very far from lessened in the eyes of sensible people by his acting like a man of principle what will he be doing in fact but what very many of our first families have done or ought to do there will be nothing singular in his case and it is which often makes the worst part of our suffering as it always does of our conduct i have great hope of our prevailing we must be serious and decided for after all the person	26
who has contracted debts must pay them and though a great deal is due to the feelings of the gentleman and the head of a house like your father there is still more due to the character of an honest man this was the principle on which anne wanted her father to be proceeding his friends to be urging him she considered it as an act of indispensable duty to clear away the claims of with all the expedition which the most comprehensive could secure and saw no dignity in anything short of it she wanted it to be prescribed and felt as a duty she lady s influence highly and as to the severe degree of self denial which her own conscience prompted she believed there might be little more difficulty in persuading them to a complete than to half a her knowledge of her father and b persuasion inclined her to think that the sacrifice of one pair of horses would be hardly less painful than of both and so on through the whole list of lady s too gentle how anne s more rigid might have been taken is of little consequence lady s had no success at all could not be put up with were not to be borne what every comfort of life knocked off journeys london servants horses table and everywhere to live no longer with the even of a private gentleman no he would sooner quit hall at once than remain in it on such disgraceful terms quit hall the hint was immediately taken up by mr shepherd whose interest was involved in the reality of sir walter s and who was perfectly persuaded that nothing would be done without a change of abode since the idea had been started in the very quarter which ought to dictate he had no scruple he said in his judgment to be entirely on that side it did not appear to him that sir walter could materially alter his style of living in a house which had such a character of hospitality and ancient dignity to support in any other place sir walter might judge for himself and would be looked up to as the modes of life in whatever way he might choose to model his household sir walter would quit hall and after a veiy few days more of doubt and the great question of whither he should go was settled and the first outline of this important change made out there had been three london bath or another house in the country all anne s wishes had been for the latter a small house in their own neighbourhood where they might still have lady s so still be near mary and still have the pleasure of persuasion sometimes seeing the and groves of was the object of her ambition but the usual fate of anne attended her in having something very opposite from her inclination fixed on she disliked bath and did not think it agreed with her and bath was to be her home sir walter had at first thought more of london but mr shepherd felt that he could not be trusted in london and had been skilful enough to him from it and make bath preferred it was a much safer place for a gentleman in his he might there be important at comparatively little expense two material advantages of bath over london had of course been given all their weight its more convenient distance from only fifty miles and lady s spending some part of every winter there and to the very great satisfaction of lady whose first views on the projected change had been for bath sir walter and elizabeth were induced to believe that they should lose neither consequence nor enjoyment by settling there lady felt obliged to oppose her dear anne s known wishes it would be too much to expect sir walter to descend into a small house in his own neighbourhood anne herself would have found the of it more than she foresaw and to sir walter s feelings they must have been dreadful and with regard to anne s dislike of bath she considered it as a prejudice and arising first from the circumstance of her having been three years at school there after her mother s death and secondly from her happening to be not in perfectly good spirits the only winter which she had afterwards spent there with herself lady was fond of bath in short and disposed to think it must suit them all and as to her young friend s health by passing all the warm months with her persuasion at lodge every danger would be avoided and it was in fact a change which must do both health and spirits good anne had been too little from home too little seen her spirits were not high a larger society would improve them she wanted her to be more known the of any other house in the same neighbourhood for sir walter was certainly much strengthened by one part and a very material part of the scheme which had been happily on the beginning he was not only to quit his home but to see it in the hands of others a trial of fortitude which stronger heads than sir walter s have found too much hall was to be let this however was a profound secret not to be breathed beyond their own circle sir walter could not have borne the degradation of being known to design letting his house mr shepherd had once mentioned the word but never dared approach it again sir walter the idea of its being offered in any manner the slightest hint being dropped of his having such an intention and it was only on the supposition of his being by some most on his own terms and as a great favor that he would let it at all how quick come	26
inclination for the place as a man who knew it only by description could feel and given mr shepherd in his explicit account of himself every proof of his being a most responsible eligible tenant and who is admiral was sir walter s cold suspicious inquiry mr shepherd answered for his being of a gentleman s family and mentioned a place and anne after the little pause which followed added he is rear admiral of the white he was in the action and has been in the east indies since he has been stationed there i believe several years then i take it for granted observed sir walter that his face is about as orange as the and of my livery mr shepherd hastened to assure him that admiral was a very hale hearty well looking man a little weather beaten to be sure but not much and quite the in all his notions and behaviour not likely to make the smallest difficulty about terms only wanted a comfortable home and to get into it as soon as possible knew he must pay for his convenience knew what rent a ready furnished house of that consequence might fetch should not have been surprised if sir walter had asked more had inquired about the would be glad of the certainly but made no great point of it said he sometimes took out a gun but never killed quite the mr shepherd was eloquent on the subject pointing out all the circumstances of the admiral s family which made him peculiarly desirable as a tenant he was a married man and without children the very state to be persuasion wished for a house was never taken good care of mr shepherd observed without a lady he did not know whether furniture might not be in of suffering as much where there was no lady as where there were many children a lady without a family was the very best of furniture in the world he had seen mrs too she was at with the admiral and had been present almost all the time they were talking the matter over and a very well spoken genteel shrewd lady she seemed to be continued he asked more questions about the house and terms and taxes than the admiral himself and seemed more with business and moreover sir walter i found she was not quite in this country any more than her husband that is to say she is sister to a gentleman who did live amongst us once she told me so herself sister to the gentleman who lived a few years back at bless me what was his name at this moment i cannot recollect his name though i have heard it so lately my dear can you help me to the name of the gentleman who lived at mrs s brother but mrs clay was talking so eagerly with miss that she did not hear the appeal i have no conception whom you can mean shepherd i remember no gentleman resident at since the time of old governor bless me how very odd i shall forget my own name soon i suppose a name that i am so very well acquainted with knew the gentleman so well by sight seen him a hundred times came to consult me once i remember about a of one of his neighbours farmer s man breaking into his orchard wall torn down apples stolen caught in the fact and afterwards contrary to my judgment submitted to an compromise very odd indeed persuasion after waiting another moment you mean mr i suppose said anne mr shepherd was all gratitude was the very name mr was the very man he had the of you know walter some time back for two or three years came there about the year take it you remember him i am sure oh ay mr the of you me by the term gentleman i thought you were speaking of some man of property mr was nobody i remember quite nothing to do with the family one wonders how the names of many of our nobility become so common as mr shepherd perceived that this of the did them no service with sir walter he mentioned it no more returning with all his zeal to on the circumstances more in their favour their age and number and fortune the high idea they had formed of hall and extreme solicitude for the advantage of it making it appear as if they nothing beyond the happiness of being the tenants of sir walter an extraordinary taste certainly could they have been supposed in the secret of sir walter s estimate of the of a tenant it succeeded however and though sir walter must ever look with an evil eye on anyone intending to that house and think them infinitely too well off in being permitted to rent it on the highest terms he was talked into allowing mr shepherd to proceed in the treaty and him to wait on admiral who still remained at and fix a day for the house being seen persuasion sir walter was not very wise but still he had experience enough of the world to feel that a more tenant in all than admiral bid fair to be could hardly offer so far went his understanding and his vanity supplied a little additional soothing in the admiral s situation in life which was just high enough and not too high i have let my house to admiral would sound extremely well very much better than to any mere mr a mr save perhaps some half dozen in the nation always needs a note of explanation an admiral speaks his own consequence and at the same time can never make a look small in all their dealings and intercourse sir walter must ever have the nothing could be done without a reference to elizabeth but her inclination was growing	26
so strong for a removal that she was happy to have it fixed and by a tenant at hand and not a word to decision was uttered by her mr shepherd was completely to act and no sooner had such an end been reached than anne who had been a most attentive listener to the whole left the room to seek the comfort of cool air for her flushed cheeks and as she walked along a favourite grove said with a gentle sigh a few months more and he perhaps may be walking here f t t e was not mr the former j j of however suspicious appearances may be but a captain his brother who being made commander in consequence persuasion of the action off st and not immediately employed had come into in the summer of and having no parent living found a home for half a year at he was at that time a remarkably fine young man with a great deal of intelligence spirit and brilliancy and anne an extremely pretty girl with gentleness modesty taste and feeling half the sum of attraction on either side might have been enough for he had nothing to do and she had hardly anybody to love but the encounter of such lavish could not fail they were gradually acquainted and when acquainted rapidly and deeply in love it would be difficult to say which had seen highest perfection in the other or which had been the happiest she in receiving his and proposals or he in having them accepted a short period of exquisite felicity followed and but a short one troubles soon arose sir walter on being applied to without actually his consent or saying it should never be gave it all the negative of great astonishment great coldness great silence and a professed resolution of doing nothing for his daughter he thought it a very degrading alliance and lady though with more tempered and pride received it as a most unfortunate one anne with all her claims of birth beauty and mind to throw herself away at nineteen involve herself at nineteen in an engagement with a young man who had nothing but himself to recommend him and no hopes of but in the chances of a most uncertain profession and no to secure even his farther rise in that profession would be indeed a throwing away which she grieved to think of anne so young known to so few to be snatched off by a stranger without alliance or fortune or rather sunk by him into a state of most wearing anxious youth persuasion killing it must not be if by any fair interference of friendship any representations from one who had almost a mother s love and mother s rights it would be prevented captain had no fortune he had been lucky in his profession but spending freely y hat had come freely had realized nothing but he was confident that he should soon be rich full of life and he knew that he should soon have a ship and soon be on a station that would lead to everything he wanted he had always been lucky he knew he should be so still such confidence powerful in its own warmth and in the wit which often expressed it must have been enough for a but lady saw it very differently his sanguine temper and of mind very differently on her she saw in it but an of the evil it only added a dangerous character to himself he was brilliant he was lady had little taste for wit and of anything approaching to a horror she the in every light such opposition as these feelings produced was more than anne could combat young and gentle as she was it might yet have been possible to withstand her father s ill will though by one kind word or look on the part of her sister but lady whom she had always loved and relied on could not with such of opinion and such tenderness of manner be continually her in vain she was persuaded to believe the engagement a wrong thing improper hardly capable of success and not deserving it but it was not a merely selfish caution under which she acted in putting an end to it had she not imagined herself consulting his good even more than her own she could hardly have given him up the belief of persuasion being prudent and self denying principally for his ad was her chief consolation under the misery of a parting a final parting and every consolation was required for she had to encounter all the additional pain of opinions on his side totally and and of his feeling himself ill used by so forced a he had left the country in consequence a few months had seen the beginning and the end of their acquaintance but not with a few months ended anne s share of suffering from it her attachment and regrets had for a long time clouded every enjoyment of youth and an early loss of bloom and spirits had been their lasting effect more than seven years were gone since this little history of sorrowful interest had reached its close and time had softened down much perhaps nearly all of peculiar attachment to him but she had been too on time alone no aid had been given in change of place except in one visit to bath soon after the or in any novelty or of society no one had ever come within the circle who could bear a comparison with as he stood in her memory no second attachment the only thoroughly natural happy and sufficient cure at her time of life had been possible to the nice tone of her mind the of her taste in the small limits of the society around them she had been when about two and twenty to change her name by the	26
young man who not long afterwards found a more willing mind in her younger sister and lady had lamented her refusal for charles was the eldest son of a man whose landed property and general importance were second in that country only to sir walter s and of good character and appearance and however lady might have c persuasion asked yet for something more while anne was nineteen she would have rejoiced to see her at twenty two so removed from the and injustice of her father s house and settled so permanently near herself but in this case anne had left nothing for advice to do and though lady as satisfied as ever with her own discretion never wished the past undone she began now to have the anxiety which borders on for anne s being tempted by some of talents and independence to enter a state for which she held her to be peculiarly fitted by her warm affections and domestic habits they knew not each other s opinion either its constancy or its change on the one leading point of anne s conduct for the subject was never alluded to but anne at seven and twenty thought very differently from what she had been made to think at nineteen she did not blame lady she did not blame herself for having been guided by her but she felt that were any young person in similar circumstances to apply to her for counsel they would never receive any of such immediate wretchedness such uncertain future good she was persuaded that under every disadvantage of at home and every anxiety attending his profession all their probable fears and disappointments she should yet have been a happier woman in maintaining the engagement than she had been in the sacrifice of it and this she fully believed had the usual share had even more than a usual share of all such and suspense been theirs without reference to the actual results of their case which as it happened would have bestowed earlier prosperity than could be reasonably calculated on all his sanguine expectations all his confidence had been justified his genius and had seemed to foresee and to command his prosperous path he had very soon after their engage persuasion meat ceased got employ and all that he had told her would follow had taken place he had distinguished himself and early gained the other step in rank and must now by successive have made a handsome fortune she had only navy lists and newspapers for her authority but she could not doubt his being rich and in favour of his constancy she had no reason to believe him married how eloquent could anne have been how eloquent at least were her wishes on the side of early warm attachment and a cheerful confidence in against that over anxious caution which seems to insult exertion and distrust providence she had been forced into prudence in her youth she learned romance as she grew older the natural of an unnatural beginning with all these circumstances recollections and feelings she could not hear that captain s sister was likely to live at without a revival of former pain and many a stroll and many a sigh were necessary to the agitation of the idea she often told herself it was folly before she could her nerves sufficiently to feel the continual discussion of the and their business no evil she was assisted however by that perfect indifference and apparent among the only three of her own friends m the secret of the past which seemed almost to deny any recollection of it she could do justice to the superiority of lady s motives in this over those ot her father and elizabeth she could honour all the better feelings of her calmness but the general air of oblivion among them was highly important from whatever it sprung and in the event of admiral s really taking hall she rejoiced anew over the conviction which had always been most grateful to her of the past being known to those three only among her persuasion by whom no syllable she believed would ever be whispered and in the trust that among his the brother only with whom he had been had received any information of their short lived engagement that brother had been long removed from the country and being a sensible man and moreover a angle man at the time she had a fond on no human creature s having heard of it from him the sister mrs had then been out of england accompanying her husband on a foreign station and her own sister mary had been at school while it all occurred and never admitted by the pride of some and the delicacy of others to the smallest knowledge of it afterwards with these she hoped that the acquaintance between herself and the which with lady still resident in and mary fixed only three miles off must be anticipated need not involve any particular awkwardness chapter f on the morning appointed for admiral and mrs s seeing hall anne found it most natural to take her almost daily walk to lady s and keep out of the way till all was over when she found it most natural to be sorry that she had missed the opportunity of seeing them this meeting of the two parties proved highly satisfactory and decided the whole business at once each lady was previously well disposed for an agreement and saw nothing therefore but good manners in the other and with regard to the gentlemen there was such an hearty good humour such an open trusting liberality on persuasion the admiral s side as could not but influence sir walter who had besides been flattered into his very best and most polished behaviour by mr shepherd s assurances of his being known by report to the admiral as a model of good breeding the house and	26
be staying here in perfect safety one would imagine you had never heard my father speak of her personal misfortunes though i know you must fifty times that tooth of hers and those do not disgust me so very much as they do him i have known a face not materially by a few but he them you must have heard him notice mrs clay s there is hardly any personal defect replied anne which an agreeable manner might not gradually reconcile one to i think very differently answered elizabeth shortly an agreeable manner may set off handsome features but can never alter plain ones however at any rate as i have a great deal more at stake on this point than anybody else can have i think it rather unnecessary in you to be me anne had done glad that it was over and not absolutely hopeless of doing good elizabeth though the suspicion might yet be made observant by it the last office of the four carriage horses was to draw sir walter miss and mrs clay to bath the party drove off in very good spirits sir walter prepared with bows for all the and who might have had a hint to persuasion show themselves and anne walked up at the same time in a sort of desolate tranquillity to the lodge where she was to spend the first week her friend was not in better spirits than herself lady felt this break up of the family exceedingly their respectability was as dear to her as her own and a daily intercourse had become precious by habit it was painful to look upon their deserted grounds and still worse to anticipate the new hands they were to fall into and to escape the and the melancholy of so altered a village and be out of the way when admiral and mrs first arrived she had determined to make her own absence from home begin when she must give up anne accordingly their removal was made together and anne was set down at cottage in the first stage of lady s journey was a moderate sized village which a few years back had been completely in the old english style containing only two houses superior in appearance to those of the and the mansion of the squire with its high walls great gates and old trees substantial and and the compact tight enclosed in its own neat garden with a vine and a tree trained round its but upon the marriage of the young squire it had received the improvement of a farm house elevated into a cottage for his residence and cottage with its french windows and other was quite as likely to catch the traveller s eye as the more consistent and considerable aspect and premises of the great house about a quarter of a mile farther on here anne had often been staying she knew the ways of as well as those of the two families were so continually meeting so much in the habit of running in and out of each other s house at all persuasion hours it was rather a surprise to her to find mary alone but being alone her being and out of spirits was almost a matter of course though better endowed than the elder sister mary had not anne s understanding nor temper while well and happy and properly attended to she had great good humour and excellent spirits but any sunk her completely she had no resources for solitude and a considerable share of the self importance was very prone to add to every other distress that of herself neglected and ill used in person she was inferior to both sisters and had even in her bloom only reached the dignity of being a fine girl she was now lying on the faded sofa of the pretty little drawing room the once elegant furniture of which had been gradually growing shabby under the influence of four and two children and on anne s appearing greeted her with so you are come at last i began to think i should never see you i am so ill i can hardly speak i have not seen a creature the whole morning i am sorry to find you replied anne you sent me such a good account of yourself on thursday yes i made the best of it i always do but i was very far from well at the time and i do not think i ever was so ill in my life as i have been all this morning very unfit to be left alone i am sure suppose i were to be seized of a sudden in some dreadful way and not able to ring the bell so lady would not get out i do not think she has been in this house three times this summer anne said what was proper and after her husband oh charles is out shooting i have not seen him since seven o clock he would go though i told him how ill i was he said he should not stay persuasion out long but he has never come back and now it is almost one i assure you i have not seen a soul this whole long morning you have had your little boys with you yes as long as i could bear their noise but they are so that they do me more harm than good little charles does not mind a word i say and walter is growing quite as bad well you will soon be better now replied anne cheerfully you know i always cure you when i come how are your neighbours at the great house i can give you no account of them i have not seen one of them to day except mr mv grove who just stopped and spoke through the window but without getting off his horse and though i told	26
him how ill i was not one of them have been near me it did not happen to suit the miss i suppose and they never put themselves out of their way you will see them yet perhaps before the morning is gone it is early i never want them i assure you they talk and laugh a great deal too much for me oh anne i am so very it was quite unkind of you not to come on thursday my dear mary recollect what a comfortable account you sent me of yourself you wrote in the manner and said you were perfectly well and in no hurry for me and that being the case you must be aware that my wish would be to remain with lady to the last and besides what i felt on her account i have really been so busy have had so much to do that i could not very conveniently have left sooner dear me what can you possibly have to do a great many things i assure you more than i can recollect in a moment but i can tell you some i persuasion have been making a of the catalogue of my father s books and pictures i have been several times in the garden with trying to understand and make him understand which of elizabeth s plants are for lady i have had all my own little concerns to arrange books and music to divide and all my trunks to from not having understood in time what was intended as to the and one thing i have had to do mary of a more trying nature going to almost every house in the parish as a sort of i was told that they wished it but all these things took up a great deal of time oh well and after a moment s pause but you have never asked me one word about our dinner at the yesterday did you go then i have made no because i concluded you must have been obliged to give up the party oh yes i went i was very well yesterday nothing at all the matter with me till this morning it would have been strange if i had not gone i am very glad you were well enough and hope you had a pleasant party nothing remarkable one always knows beforehand what the dinner will be and who will be there and it is so very uncomfortable not having a carriage of one s own mr and mrs took me and we were so crowded they are both so very large and take up so much room and mr always sits forward so there was i crowded into the back seat with and and i think it very likely that my illness to day may be owing to it a little farther perseverance in patience and forced cheerfulness on anne s side produced nearly a cure on mary s she could soon sit upright on the sofa and began to hope she might be able to leave it by dinner persuasion time then forgetting to think of it she was at the other end of the room a then she ate her cold meat and then she was well enough to propose a little walk where shall we go said she when they were ready i suppose you will not like to call at the great house before they have been to see you i have not the smallest objection on that replied anne i should never think of standing on such ceremony with people i know so well as mrs and the miss oh but they ought to call upon you as soon as possible they ought to feel what is due to you as my sister however we may as well go and sit with them a little while and when we have got that over we can enjoy our walk anne had always thought such a style of intercourse highly but she had ceased to endeavour to check it from believing that though there were on each side continual subjects of offence neither family could now do without it to the great house accordingly they went to sit the full half hour in the old fashioned square parlour with a small carpet and shining floor to which the present daughters of the house were gradually giving the proper air of confusion by a grand piano and a harp flower stands and little tables placed in every direction oh could the of the portraits against the could the gentlemen in brown velvet and the ladies in blue satin have seen what was going on have been conscious of such an overthrow of all order and neatness the portraits themselves seemed to be staring in astonishment the like their houses were in a state of alteration perhaps of improvement the father and mother were in the old english style and the young people in the new mr and mrs were u persuasion very good sort of people friendly and hospitable not much educated and not at all elegant their children had more modem minds and manners there was a numerous family but the only two grown up ing charles were and young ladies of nineteen and twenty who had brought from a school at all the usual stock of accomplishments and were now like thousands of other young ladies living to be fashionable happy and merry their dress had every advantage their faces were rather pretty their spirits extremely good their manners and pleasant they were of consequence at home and abroad anne always contemplated them as some of the happiest creatures of her acquaintance but still saved as we all are by some comfortable feeling of superiority from wishing for the possibility of exchange she would not have given up her own more elegant and cultivated mind for all their and envied them nothing but that seemingly perfect	26
good understanding and agreement together that good humoured mutual affection of which she had known so little herself with either of her sisters they were received with great cordiality nothing seemed amiss on the side of the great house family which was generally as anne very well knew the least to blame the half hour was away pleasantly enough and she was not at all surprised at the end of it to have their walking party joined by both the miss at mary s particular invitation persuasion ci v anne had not wanted this visit to to learn that a removal from one set of people to another though at a distance of only three will often include a total change of conversation opinion and idea she had never been staying there before without being struck by it or without wishing that other could have her advantage in seeing how unknown or there were the affairs which at hall were treated as of such and interest yet with all this experience she believed she must now submit to feel that another lesson in the art of knowing our own beyond our own circle was become necessary for her for certainly coming as she did with a heart full of the subject which had been completely occupying both houses in for many weeks she had expected rather more curiosity and sympathy than she found in the separate but very similar remark of mr and mrs so miss anne sir walter and your sister are gone and what part of bath do you think they will in and this without much waiting for an answer or in the young ladies addition of i hope we shall be in bath in the winter but remember papa if we do go we must be in a good situation none of your queen squares for us or in the anxious from mary of upon my word i shall be pretty well off when you are all gone away to be happy at bath she could only resolve to avoid such self delusion in future and think with heightened gratitude of the extraordinary blessing of having one such truly friend as lady the mr had their own game to guard persuasion and to destroy their own horses dogs and to engage them and the females were fully occupied in all the other common subjects of housekeeping neighbours dress dancing and music she acknowledged it to be very fitting that every little social should dictate its own matters of discourse and hoped ere long to become a not unworthy member of the one she was now into with the prospect of spending at least two months at it was highly incumbent on her to clothe her imagination her memory and all her ideas in as much of as possible she had no dread of these two months mary was not so repulsive and as elizabeth nor so inaccessible to all influence of hers neither was there anything among the other parts of the cottage to comfort she was always on friendly terms with her brother in law and in the children who loved her nearly as well and respected her a great deal more than their mother she had an object of interest amusement and wholesome exertion charles was civil and agreeable in sense and temper he was undoubtedly superior to his wife but not of powers or conversation or grace to make the past as they were connected together at all a dangerous contemplation though at the same time anne could believe with lady that a more equal match might have greatly improved him and that a woman of real understanding might have given more consequence to his character and more usefulness and elegance to his habits and pursuits as it was he did nothing with much zeal but sport and his time was otherwise away without benefit from books or anything else he had very good spirits which never seemed much by his wife s occasional bore with her sometimes to anne s persuasion and upon the whole though there was very often a little in which she had sometimes more share than she wished being appealed to by both parties they might pass for a happy couple they were always perfectly agreed in the want of more money and a strong inclination for a handsome present from his father but here as on most topics he had the superiority for while mary thought it a great shame that such a present was not made he always for his fathers having many other uses for his money and a right to spend it as he liked as to the management of their children his theory was much better than his wife s and his practice not so had i could manage them very well if it were not for mary s interference was what anne often heard him say and had a good deal of faith in but when listening in turn to mary s reproach of charles spoils the children so that i cannot get them into any order he never had the smallest temptation to say very true one of the least agreeable circumstances of her residence there was her being treated with too much confidence by all parties and being too much in the secret of the complaints of each house known to have some influence with her sister she was continually requested or at least receiving hints to exert it beyond what was practicable i wish you could persuade mary not to be always herself ill was charles s language and in an unhappy mood thus spoke mary i do if charles were to see me dying he would not think there was anything the matter with me i am sure anne if you would you might persuade him that really am very ill a great deal worse than i ever own mary s declaration was i hate	26
sending the children to the great house though their is d persuasion always wanting to see them for she and them to such a degree and gives them so much and sweet things that they are sure to come back sick and cross for the rest of the day and mrs took the first opportunity of being alone with anne to say oh miss anne i cannot help wishing mrs charles had a little of your method those children they are quite different creatures with you but to be sure in general they are so spoilt it is a pity you cannot put your sister in the way of managing them they are as fine healthy children as ever were seen poor little without partiality but mrs charles knows no more how they should be treated bless me how troublesome they are sometimes i assure you miss anne it prevents my wishing to see them at our house so often as i otherwise should i believe mrs charles is not quite pleased with my not inviting them oftener but you know it is very bad to have children with one that one is obliged to be checking every moment don t do this and don t do that or that one can only keep in tolerable order by more cake than is good for them she had this communication moreover from mary mrs thinks all her servants so steady that it would be high treason to call it in question but i am sure without exaggeration that her upper house maid and maid instead of being in their business are about the village all day long i meet them wherever i go and i declare i never go twice into my nursery without seeing something of them if were not the creature in the world it would be enough to spoil her for she tells me they are always tempting her to take a walk with them and on mrs s side it was i make a rule of never interfering in any of my daughter in law s concerns for i know it would not do but i shall tell you persuasion miss anne because you may be able to set things to rights that i have no very good opinion of mrs charles s nursery maid i hear strange stories of her she is always upon the and from my own knowledge i can declare she is such a fine dressing lady that she is enough to ruin any servants she comes near mrs charles quite by her i know but i just give you this hint that you may be upon the watch because if you see anything amiss you need not be afraid of mentioning it again it was mary s complaint that mrs was very apt not to give her the that was her due when they dined at the great house with other families and she did not see any reason why she was to be considered so much at home as to lose her place and one day when anne was walking with only the miss one of them after talking of rank people of rank and jealousy of rank said i have no scruple of observing to how some persons are about their place because all the world knows how easy and indifferent you are about it but i wish anybody would give mary a hint that it would be a great deal better if she were not so very especially if she would not be always putting herself forward to take place of mamma nobody doubts her right to have of mamma but it would be more becoming in her not to be always on it it is not that mamma cares about it the least in the world but i know it is taken notice of by many per how was anne to set all these matters to rights she could do little more than listen patiently soften every grievance and excuse each to the other give them all hints of the forbearance necessary between such near neighbours and make those hints which were meant for her sister s benefit persuasion in all other respects her visit began and proceeded very well her own spirits improved by change of place and subject by being removed three miles from mary s lessened by having a constant companion and their daily intercourse with the other family since there was neither superior affection confidence nor employment in the cottage to be interrupted by it was rather an advantage it was certainly carried nearly as far as possible for they met every morning and hardly ever spent an evening asunder but she believed they should not have done so well without the sight of mr and mrs s respectable forms in the usual places or without the laughing and singing of their daughters she played a great deal better than either of the miss but having no voice no knowledge of the harp and no fond parents to sit by and fancy themselves delighted her performance was thought of only out of civility or to refresh the others as she was well aware she knew that when she played she was giving pleasure only to herself but this was no new sensation excepting one short period of her life she had never since the age of fourteen never since the loss of her dear mother known the happiness of being listened to or encouraged by any just appreciation or real taste in music she had been always used to feel alone in the world and mr and mrs s fond partiality for their own daughters performance and total indifference to any other person s gave her much more pleasure for their than mortification for her own the party at the great house was sometimes increased by other company the neighbourhood was not large but the were visited by everybody and had	26
more dinner parties and more more visitors by invitation and by chance than any k family they were more completely popular persuasion the girls were wild for dancing and the evenings ended occasionally in a little ball there was a family of cousins within a walk of in less circumstances who depended on the for all their pleasures they would come at any time or help to play at anything or dance anywhere and anne very much preferring the office of to a more active post played country dances to them by the hour together a kindness which always her musical powers to the notice of mr and mrs more than anything else and often drew this compliment well done miss anne very well done indeed lord bless me how those little fingers of yours fly about so passed the first three weeks came and now anne s heart must be in again a beloved home made over to others all the precious rooms and furniture groves and prospects beginning to own other eyes and other limbs she could not think of much else on the th of september and she had this sympathetic touch in the evening from mary who on having occasion to note down the day of the month exclaimed dear me is not this the day the were to come to i am glad i did not think of it before how low it makes me the took possession with true naval and were to be visited mary the necessity for herself nobody knew how much she should suffer she should put it off as long as she could but was not easy till she had talked charles into driving her over on an early day and was in a very animated comfortable state of imaginary agitation when she came back anne had very sincerely rejoiced in there being do means of her going she wished however to see the and was glad to be within when the visit was returned they came the master of the house was persuasion not at home but the two sisters were together and as it chanced that mrs fell to the share of anne while the admiral sat by mary and made himself very agreeable by his good humoured notice of her little boys she was well able to watch for a likeness and if it failed her in the features to catch it in the voice or in the turn of sentiment and expression mrs though neither tall nor fat had a and vigour of form which gave importance to her person she had bright dark eyes good teeth and altogether an agreeable face though her and weather beaten complexion the consequence of her having been almost as much at sea as her husband made her seem to have lived some years longer in the world than her real eight and thirty her manners were open easy and decided like one who had no distrust of herself and no doubts of what to do without any approach to however or any want of good humour anne gave her credit indeed for feelings of great consideration towards herself in all that related to and it pleased her especially as she had satisfied herself in the very first half minute in the instant even of introduction that there was not the smallest symptom of any knowledge or suspicion on mrs s side to give a bias of any sort she was quite easy on that head and consequently full of strength and courage till for a moment by mrs s suddenly saying it was you and not your sister i find that my brother had the pleasure of being acquainted with when he was in this country anne hoped she had the age of blushing but the age of emotion she certainly had not perhaps you may not have heard that he is married added mrs she could now answer as she ought and was happy persuasion to feel when mrs s next words explained it to be mr of whom she spoke that she had said nothing which might not do for either brother she immediately felt how reasonable it was that mrs should be thinking and speaking of edward and not of and with shame at her own forgetful ness applied herself to the knowledge of their former neighbour s present state with proper interest the rest was all tranquillity till just as they were she heard the admiral say to mary we are expecting a brother of mrs s here soon i dare say you know him by name he was cut short by the eager attacks of the little boys clinging to him like an old friend and declaring he should not go and being too much engrossed by proposals of carrying them away in his coat pocket c to have another moment for finishing or what he had begun anne was left to persuade herself as well as she could that the same brother must still be in question she could not however reach such a degree of certainty as not to be anxious to hear whether had been said on the subject at the other house where the had previously been calling the folks of great house were to spend the evening of this day at the cottage and it being now too late in the year for such visits to be made on foot the coach was beginning to be listened for when the youngest miss walked in that she was coming to and that they should have to spend the evening by themselves was the first black idea and mary was quite ready to be when made au right by that she only came on foot to leave more room for the harp which was bringing in the carriage and i will tell you our reason she added and all about it i am come on to give you	26
notice that persuasion papa and mamma are out of spirits this evening especially mamma she is thinking so much of poor richard and we agreed it would be best to have the harp for it seems to amuse her more than the piano i will tell you why she is out of spirits when the called this morning they called here afterwards did not they they happened to say that her brother captain w is just returned to england or paid off or something and is coming to see them almost directly and most it came into mamma s head when they were gone that or something very like it was the name of poor richard s captain at one time i do not know when or where but a great while before he died poor fellow and upon looking over his letters and things she found it was so and is perfectly sure that this must be the very man and her head is quite full of it and of poor richard so we must all be as merry as we can that she may not be dwelling upon such gloomy things the real circumstances of this pathetic piece of family history were that the had had the ill fortune of a very troublesome hopeless son and the good fortune to lose him before he reached his twentieth year that he had been sent to sea because he was stupid and on shore that he had been very little cared for at any time by his family though quite as much as he deserved seldom heard of and scarcely at all regretted when the intelligence of his death abroad had worked its way to two years before he had in fact though his sisters were now doing all they could for him by calling him poor richard been nothing better than a thick headed dick who had never done anything to himself to more than the of his name living or dead he had been several years at sea and had in the persuasion course of those to which all are liable and especially such as every captain wishes to get rid of been six months on board captain s the and from the he had under the influence of his captain written the only two letters which his father and mother had ever received from him during the whole of his absence that is to say the only two disinterested letters all the rest had been mere for money in each letter he had spoken well of his captain but yet little were they in the habit of attending to such matters so and were they as to the names of men or ships that it had made scarcely any impression at the time and that mrs should have been suddenly struck this very day with a recollection of the name of as connected with her son seemed one of those extraordinary bursts of which do sometimes occur she had gone to her letters and found it all as she supposed and the re perusal of these letters after so long an interval her poor son gone for ever and all the strength of his faults forgotten had affected her spirits exceedingly and thrown her into greater grief for him than she had known on first hearing of his death mr was in a lesser degree affected likewise and when they reached the cottage they were evidently in want of being listened to anew on this subject and afterwards of all the relief which cheerful companions could give to hear them talking so much of captain repeating his name so often over past years and at last that it mighty that it probably turn out to be the very same captain whom they recollected meeting once or twice after their coming back from a very fine young man but they could not say whether it was persuasion seven or eight years ago was a new sort of to anne s nerves she found however that it was one to which she must herself since he actually was expected in the country she must teach herself to be insensible on such points and not only did it appear that he was expected and speedily but the in their warm gratitude for the kindness he had poor dick and very high respect for his character stamped as it was by poor dick s having been six months under his care and mentioning him in strong though not perfectly well praise as a fine dashing only two about the were bent on introducing themselves and seeking his acquaintance as soon as they could hear of his arrival the resolution of doing so helped to form the comfort of their evening chapter f few days more and captain was known to be at and mr had called on him and come back warm in his praise and he was engaged with the to dine at by the end of another week it had been a great disappointment to mr to find that no earlier day could be fixed so impatient was he to his gratitude by seeing captain under his own roof and him to all that was strongest and best in his but a week must pass only a week in anne s reckoning and then she supposed they meet and soon she began to wish that s ie could feel secure even for a week captain made a very early return to mr s civility and she was all but calling there in persuasion the same half hour she and mary were actually setting forward for the great house where as she afterwards learnt they must inevitably have found him when they were stopped by the eldest boy s being at that moment brought home in consequence of a bad fall the child s situation put the visit entirely aside but she could not hear of her	26
escape with even in the midst of the serious anxiety which they afterwards felt on his account his collar bone was found to be and such injury received in the back as roused the most alarming ideas it was an afternoon of distress and anne had everything to do at once the to send for the father to have pursued and informed the mother to support and keep from the servants to control the youngest child to banish and the poor suffering one to attend and soothe besides sending as soon as she recollected it proper notice to tlie other house which brought her an accession rather of frightened companions than of very useful her brother s return was the first comfort he could take best care of his wife and the second blessing was the arrival of the till he came and had examined the child their apprehensions were the worse for being vague they suspected great injury but knew not where but now the collar bone was soon replaced and though mr robinson felt and felt and rubbed and looked grave and spoke low words both to the father and the aunt still they were all to hope the best and to be able to part and eat their dinner in tolerable ease of mind and then it was just before they parted that the two young were able so far to from their nephew s state as to give the information of captain s visit staying five minutes behind their and mother to endeavour to express how perfectly delighted they were with him how much hand l how infinitely more agreeable they thought him than any individual among their male acquaintance who had been at all a favourite before how glad they had been to hear papa invite him to stay dinner how sorry when he said it was quite out of his power and how glad again when he had promised to reply to papa and mamma s farther pressing invitations to come and dine with them on the morrow actually on the morrow and he had promised it in so pleasant a manner as if he felt all the motive of their attention just as he ought and in short he had looked and said everything with such exquisite grace that they could assure them their heads were both turned by him and off they ran quite as full of glee as of love and apparently more full of captain than of little charles the same story and the same were repeated when the two girls came with their father through the gloom of the evening to make and mr no longer under the first uneasiness about his heir could add his confirmation and praise and hope there would be now no occasion for putting captain off and only be sorry to think that the cottage party probably would not like to leave the little boy to give him the meeting oh no as to leaving the little boy both father and mother were in much too strong and recent alarm to bear the thought and anne in the joy of the escape could not help adding her warm to theirs charles indeed afterwards more of inclination the child was going on so well and he wished so much to be introduced to captain that perhaps he might join them in the evening he would not dine from home but he might walk in for half an hour but in this he was eagerly opposed by his wife with oh no indeed charles i cannot bear to have you go away only think if anything should happen persuasion the child had a good night aad was going on well ihe next day it must be a work of time to ascertain thai no injury had been done to the but mr robinson found nothing to increase alarm and charles began consequent y to feel no necessity for longer confinement the child was to be kept in bed and amused as as possible bat what was there for a father to do this was quite a female case and it would he highly absurd in him who could be of no at home to shut himself up his father very much wished him to meet captain and there being no sufficient reason against it he ought to go j and it ended in his making a bold public declaration when he came in from shooting of his meaning to dress directly and dine at the other nothing can be going on better than the child said he so i told my father just now that i would come and he me quite right your sister being with you my love i have no scruple at all you would not like to leave him yourself but you see i can be of no use anne will send for me if anything is the and wives generally understand when opposition will be vain mary knew from charles s manner of speaking that he was quite determined on going and that it would be of no use to him she said nothing therefore till he was out of the room i but as as there was only anne to hear so you and i arc to be left to shift by selves with this poor sick child and not a creature coming near us all the evening i knew how it would be this is always my luck if there is anything disagreeable going on men are always sure to out of it and is as bad as any of them very i say it is very of him to be running away bom his poor boy talks of his being going on persuasion well how does he know that he is going on or that there may not be a sudden change half an hour hence i did not think charles would have been	26
so so here he is to go away and enjoy himself and because i am the poor mother i am not to be allowed to stir and yet i am sure i am more unfit than anybody else to be about the child my being the mother is the very reason why my feelings should not be tried i am not at all equal to it you saw how hysterical i was yesterday but that was only the effect of the suddenness of your alarm of the shock you will not be hysterical again i dare say we shall have nothing to distress us i perfectly understand mr robinson s directions and have no fears and indeed mary i cannot wonder at your husband nursing does not belong to a man it is not his province a sick child is always the mother s property her own feelings generally make it so i hope i am as fond of my child as any mother but i do not know that i am of any more use in the sick room than charles for i cannot be always scolding and a poor child when it is ill and you saw this morning that if i told him to keep quiet he was sure to begin kicking about i have not nerves for the sort of thing but could you be comfortable yourself to be spending the whole evening away from the poor boy yes you see his papa can and why should not i is so careful and she could send us word every hour how he was really think charles might as well have told his father we would all come i am not more alarmed about little charles now than he is i was dreadfully alarmed yesterday but the case is very different to day well if you do not think it too late to give notice for yourself suppose you were to go as well as your persuasion husband leave little charles to my care mr and mrs cannot think it wrong while i remain with him are you serious cried mary her eyes brightening dear me that s a very good thought very good indeed to be sure i may just as well go as not for i am of no use at home am i and it only me you who have not a mother s feelings are a great the person you can make little charles do anything he always minds you at a word it will be a great deal better than leaving him with only oh i will certainly go i am sure i ought if i can quite as much as charles for they want me excessively to be acquainted with captain and i know you do not mind being left alone an excellent thought of yours indeed anne i will go and tell charles and get ready directly you can send for us you know at a moment s notice if anything is the matter but i dare say there will be nothing to alarm you i should not go you may be sure if i did not feel quite at ease about my dear child the next moment she was tapping at her husband s dressing room door and as anne followed her up stairs she was in time for the whole conversation which began with mary s saying in a tone of great exaltation i mean to go with you charles for i am of no more use at home than you are if i were to shut myself up for ever with the child i should not be able to persuade him to do anything he did not like anne will stay anne to stay at home and take care of him it is anne s own proposal and so i shall go with you which will be a great deal better for i have not dined at the other house since tuesday this is very kind of anne was her husband s s persuasion answer and t should be very glad to have you go but it seems rather hard that she should be left at home by herself to nurse our sick child anne was now at hand to take up her own cause and the sincerity of her manner being soon sufficient to convince him where conviction was at least very agreeable he had no farther scruples as to her being left to dine alone though he still wanted her to join them in the evening when the child might be at rest for the night and kindly urged her to let him come and fetch her but she was quite and this being the case she had ere long the pleasure of seeing them set off together in high spirits they were gone she hoped to be happy however oddly constructed such happiness might seem as for herself she was left with as many sensations of comfort as were perhaps ever likely to be hers she knew herself to be of the first utility to the child and what was it to her if were only half a mile distant making himself agreeable to others she would have liked to know how he felt as to a meeting perhaps indifferent if indifference could exist under such circumstances he must be either indifferent or unwilling had he wished ever to see her again he need not have waited till this time he would have done what she could not but believe that in his place she should have done long ago when events had been early giving him the independence which alone had been wanting her brother and sister came back delighted with their new acquaintance and their visit in ge there had been music singing talking laughing all that was most agreeable charming manners in captain no shyness or reserve they seemed all to know each other perfectly and he was	26
coming the very next morning to shoot with charles he was to come persuasion to breakfast but not at the cottage though that had been proposed at first but then he had been pressed to come to the great house instead and he seemed afraid of being in mrs charles s way on account of the child and therefore somehow they hardly knew how it ended in charles s being to meet him to break t at his father s anne understood it he wished to avoid seeing her he had inquired after her she found slightly as might suit a former slight acquaintance seeming to acknowledge such as she had acknowledged perhaps by the same view of escaping introduction when they were to meet the morning hours of the cottage were always later than those of the other house and on the morrow the was so great that mary and anne were not more than beginning breakfast when charles came in to say that they were just setting off that he was come for his dogs that his sisters were following with captain his sisters meaning to visit mary and the child and captain proposing also to wait on her for a few minutes if not inconvenient and though charles had answered for the child s being in no such state as could make it inconvenient captain would not be satisfied without his running on to give notice mary very much gratified by this attention was delighted to receive him while a thousand feelings rushed on anne of which this was the most that it would soon be over and it was soon over in two minutes after charles s preparation the others appeared they were in the drawing room her eye half met captain s a bow a passed she heard his voice he talked to mary said ail that was right said something to the miss enough to mark an easy footing the room e o persuasion seemed full full of persons and but a few minutes ended it charles himself at the window all was ready their visitor had bowed and was gone the miss were gone too suddenly to walk to the end of the village with the the room was cleared and anne might finish her breakfast as she could it is over it is over she repeated to herself again and again in nervous gratitude the worst is over mary talked but she could not attend she had seen him they had met they had been once more in the same room soon however she began to reason with herself and try to be feeling less eight years almost eight years had passed since all had been given up how absurd to be the agitation which such an interval had banished into distance and what might not eight years do events of every description changes all all must be in it and oblivion of the past how natural how certain too it included nearly a third part of her own life alas with all her she found that to feelings eight years may be little more than nothing now how were his sentiments to be read was this like wishing to avoid her and the next moment she was herself for the folly which asked the question on one other question which perhaps her utmost wisdom might not have prevented she was soon spared all suspense for after the miss had returned and finished their visit at the cottage she had this spontaneous information from mary captain is not very gallant by you persuasion though he was so attentive to me asked him what he thought of you when they went away and he said you were so altered he should not have known you again mary had no feelings to make her respect her sister s id a common way but she was perfectly of being any peculiar wound altered beyond his knowledge anne fully submitted in silent deep mortification it was and she could take no revenge for he was not altered or not for the worse she had already acknowledged it to herself and she could not think let him think of her as he would no the years which had destroyed her youth and bloom had only given him a more glowing manly open look in no respect his personal advantages she had seen the same so altered that he should not have known her again these were words which could not but dwell with her yet she soon began to rejoice that she had heard them they were of tendency they they composed and consequently must make her happier had used such words or like them but without an idea that they would be carried round to her he had thought her altered and in the first moment of appeal had spoken as he felt he had not forgiven anne she had used him ill deserted and disappointed him and worse she had a of character in doing so which his own decided confident temper could not endure she had given him up to oblige others it had been the effect of over persuasion it had been weakness and timidity he had been most warmly attached to her and had never seen a woman since whom he thought her equal persuasion but except from some natural sensation of curiosity he had no desire of meeting her again her power with him was gone for ever it was now his object to marry he was rich and turned on shore fully intended to settle as soon as he could be properly tempted actually looking round ready to fall in love with all the which a clear head and quick taste could allow he had a heart for either of the miss if they could catch it a heart in short for any pleasing young woman who came in his way excepting anne this was his only	26
secret exception when he said to his sister in answer to her yes here i am quite ready to make a foolish match anybody between fifteen and thirty may have me for asking a little beauty and a few smiles and a few compliments to the navy and i am a lost man should not this be enough for a sailor who has had no society among women to make him nice he said it she knew to be contradicted his bright proud eye spoke the happy conviction that he was nice and anne was not out of his thoughts when he more than seriously described the woman he should wish to meet with a strong mind with sweetness of manner made the first and the last of the description that is the woman i want said he something a little inferior i shall of course put up with but it must not be much if i am a fool i shall be a fool indeed for i have thought on the subject more than most men persuasion r time captain and anne j were repeatedly in the same circle they were dining in company together at mr s for the little boy s state could no longer supply hia aunt with a pretence for herself and this waa but the beginning of other and meetings whether former feelings were to be renewed must be brought to proof former times must undoubtedly be brought to the recollection of each they could not but be to the year of their engagement could not but be named by him in the little or descriptions which conversation called forth his profession qualified him his disposition led him to talk and was in the year happened before i went to sea in the year six occurred in the course of the first evening they spent together and though his voice did not and though she had no i reason to suppose his eye wandering towards her while lie spoke anne felt the utter impossibility from her knowledge of his mind that he could be by any more than herself there must be the immediate association of thought though she was very far from it to be of equal pain they had no conversation together no intercourse mt what the commonest civility required once so much to each now nothing there been a time when of all the large party now the drawing room at ihey would have found it moat difficult to cease lo speak to one another with the exception perhaps of admiral and mrs who seemed particularly attached and happy anne could allow no other exception even among the married persuasion couples there could have been no two hearts so open no tastes so similar no feelings so in no countenances so beloved now they were as strangers nay worse than strangers for they could never become acquainted it was a perpetual when he talked she heard the same voice and discerned the same mind there was a very general ignorance of all naval matters throughout the party and he was very much questioned and especially by the two miss who seemed hardly to have any eyes but for him as to the manner of living on board food hours c and their surprise at his accounts at learning the degree of accommodation and arrangement which was practicable drew from him some pleasant ridicule which reminded anne of the early days when she too had been ignorant and she too had been accused of supposing sailors to be living on board without anything to eat or any cook to dress it if there were or any servant to wait or any knife and fork to use from thus listening and thinking she was roused by a whisper of mrs s who overcome by fond regrets could not help saying ah miss anne if it had pleased heaven to spare my poor son i dare say he would have been just such another by this time anne suppressed a smile and listened kindly while mrs relieved her heart a little more and for a few minutes therefore could not keep pace with the conversation of the others when she could let her attention take its natural course again she found the miss just the navy list their own navy list the first that had ever been at and sitting down together to pore over it with the professed view of finding out the which captain had commanded persuasion first was the i remember we will look for the you will not find her there quite worn out and up i was the last man who commanded her hardly fit for service then reported fit for home service for a year or two and so i was sent off to the west indies the girls looked all amazement the he continued entertain themselves now and then with sending a few hundred men to sea in a ship not fit to be employed but they have a great many to provide for and among the thousands that may just as well go to the bottom as not it is impossible for them to distinguish the very set who may be least missed cried the admiral what stuff these young fellows talk never was there a better than the in her day for an old you would not see her equal lucky fellow to get her he knows there must have been twenty better men than applying for her at the same time lucky fellow to get anything so soon with no more interest than his i felt my luck admiral i assure you replied captain seriously i was as well satisfied with my appointment as you can desire it was a great object with me at that time to be at sea a very great object i wanted to be doing something to be sure you did what should a young fellow	26
like you do ashore for half a year together if a man has not a wife he soon wants to be afloat again but captain cried how you must have been when you came to the to see what an old thing they had given you i knew pretty well what she was before that day said he smiling i had no more discoveries to make persuasion than you would have as to the fashion and strength of any old which you had seen lent about among half your acquaintance ever since you could remember and which at last on some very wet day is lent to yourself ah she was a dear old to me she did all that i wanted i knew she would i knew that we should either go to the bottom together or that she would be the making of me and i never had two days of foul weather all the time i was at sea in her and after taking enough to be very entertaining i had the good luck in my passage home the next autumn to fall in with the very french i wanted i brought her into and here was another instance of luck we had not been six hours in the sound when a gale came on which lasted four days and nights and which would have done for poor old in half the time our touch with the great nation not having much improved our condition four hours later and i should only have been a gallant captain in a small paragraph at one comer of the newspapers and being lost in only a nobody would have thought about me anne s were to herself alone but the miss could be as open as they were sincere in their exclamations of pity and horror and so then i suppose said mrs in a low voice as if thinking aloud so then he went away to the and there he met with our poor boy charles my dear him to her do ask captain where it was he first met with your poor brother i always forget it was at mother i know dick had been left ill at with a recommendation from his former captain to captain oh but charles tell captain he need not be afraid of mentioning poor dick before mc for it persuasion be rather a pleasure to hear him talked of by such a good friend charles being somewhat more of the of the case only nodded in reply and walked away the girls were now hunting for the and captain could not deny himself the pleasure of taking the precious volume into his own hands to save them the trouble and once more read aloud the little statement of her name and rate and present non class observing over it that she too had been one of the best friends man ever had ah those were pleasant days when i had the how fast i made money in her a friend of mine and i had such a lovely together off the western islands poor sister you know how much he wanted money worse than myself he had a wife excellent fellow i shall never forget his happiness he felt it all so much for her sake i wished for him again the next summer when i had still the same luck in the and i am sure sir said mrs it was a lucky day for i x when you were put captain into that ship we shall never forget what you did her feelings made her speak low and captain hearing only in part and probably not having dick at all near his thoughts looked rather in suspense and as if waiting for more my brother whispered one of the girls mamma is thinking of poor richard poor dear fellow continued mrs he was grown so steady and such an excellent correspondent while he was under your care ah it would have been a happy thing if he had never left you i assure you captain we are very sorry he e er left you if persuasion there was a momentary expression in captain s face at this speech a certain glance of his bright eye and curl of his handsome mouth which convinced anne that instead of sharing in mrs s kind wishes as to her son he had probably been at some pains to get rid of him but it was too transient an indulgence of self amusement to be detected by any who understood him less than herself in another moment he was perfectly collected and serious and almost instantly afterwards coming up to the sofa on which she and mrs were sitting took a place by the latter and entered into conversation with her in a low voice about her son doing it with so much sympathy and natural grace as the kindest consideration for all that was real and in the parent s feelings they were actually on the same sofa for mrs had most readily made room for him they were divided only by mrs it was no insignificant barrier indeed mrs was of a comfortable substantial size infinitely more fitted by nature to express good cheer and good humour than tenderness and sentiment and while the of anne s slender form and pensive face may be considered as very completely captain should be allowed some credit for the self command with which he attended to her large fat over the destiny of a son whom alive nobody had cared for personal size and mental sorrow have certainly no necessary proportions a large figure has as good a right to be in deep affliction as the most graceful set of limbs in the world but fair or not fair there are which reason will in vain which taste cannot which ridicule will seize the admiral after taking two or three refreshing	26
persuasion about the room with his hands behind him being called to order by his wife now came up to captain and without any observation of what he might be interrupting thinking only of his own thoughts began with if you had been a week later at last spring you would have been asked to give a passage to lady mary and her daughters should i am glad i was not a week later then the admiral abused him for his want of gallantry he defended himself though tliat he would never willingly admit any ladies on board a ship of his excepting for a ball or a visit which a few hours might comprehend but if i know myself said he this is from no want of gallantry towards them it is rather from feeling how impossible it is with all one s efforts and all one s sacrifices to make the on board such as women ought to have there can be no want of gallantry admiral in the claims of women to every personal comfort high and this is what i do i hate to hear of women on board or to see them on board and no ship under my command shall ever convey a family of ladies anywhere if i can help it this brought his sister upon him oh but i cannot believe it of you all idle refinement women may be as comfortable on board as in the best house in england i believe i have lived as much on board as most women and i know nothing superior to the of a war i declare i have not a comfort or an indulgence about me even at hall with a kind bow to anne beyond what i always had in most of the ships i have lived in and they have been five altogether yo persuasion nothing to the purpose replied her brother you were living with your husband and were the only woman on board but you yourself brought mrs her her cousin and the three children round from to where was this extraordinary sort of gallantry of yours then all in my friendship i would assist any brother officer s wife that i could and i would bring anything of s from the world s end if he wanted it but do not imagine that i did not feel it an evil in itself depend upon it they were all comfortable i might not like them the better for that perhaps such a number of women and children have no right to be comfortable on board my dear you are talking quite idly pray what would become of us poor sailors wives who often want to be conveyed to one port or another after our husbands if everybody had your feelings my feelings you see did not prevent my taking mrs and all her family to but i hate to hear you talking so like a fine and as if women were all fine ladies instead of rational creatures we none of us expect to be in smooth water all our days ah my dear said the admiral when he has got a wife he will sing a different tune when he is married if we have the good luck to live to another war we shall see him do as you and i and a great many others have done we shall have him very thankful to anybody that will bring him his wife ay that we shall now i have done cried captain when once married people begin to attack me with persuasion h you will think very differently when you are married i can only say no i shall not and then they say again yes you will and there is an end of it he got up and moved away what a great traveller you must have been ma am said mrs to mrs pretty well ma am in the fifteen years of my marriage though many women have done more i have crossed the atlantic four times and have been once to the east indies and back again and only once besides being in different places about home cork and and but i never went beyond the and never was in the west indies we do not call or you know the west indies mrs had not a word to say in she could not accuse herself of having ever called them anything in the whole course of her life and i do assure you ma am pursued mrs that nothing can exceed the of a man of war i speak you know of the higher when you come to a of course you are more confined though any reasonable woman may be perfectly happy in one of them and i can safely say that the happiest part of my life has been spent on board a ship while we were together you know there was nothing to be feared thank god i have always been blessed with excellent health and no climate with me a little disordered always the first twenty four hours of going to sea but never knew what sickness was afterwards the only time that i ever really suffered in body or mind the only time that i ever fancied myself or had any ideas of danger was the winter that i passed by myself at deal when the admiral captain then was in the north persuasion seas i lived in perpetual fright at that and had all manner of imaginary complaints from not knowing what to do with myself or when i should hear from him next but as long as we could be together nothing ever me and i never met with the smallest inconvenience ay to be sure yes indeed oh yes i am quite of your opinion mrs was mrs s hearty answer there is nothing so bad as a separation i	26
the discretion of both their daughters and of all the young men who came near them seemed to leave everything to take its chance there was not the smallest appearance of solicitude or about them in the mansion house but it was different at the cottage the young couple there were more disposed to and wonder and captain had not been above four or five times in the miss company and charles had but just reappeared when anne had to listen to the opinions of her brother and sister as to which was the one liked beat charles gave it for mary for but quite agreeing that to have him marry either would be extremely delightful f persuasion charles had never seen a pleasanter man in his life and from what he had once heard captain himself say was very sure that he had not made less than twenty thousand pounds by the war here was a fortune at once besides which there would be the chance of what might be done in any future war and he was sure captain was as likely a man to distinguish himself as any officer in the navy oh it would be a capital match for either of his sisters upon my word it would replied mary dear me if he should rise to any very great honours if he should ever be made a lady sounds very well that would be a noble thing indeed for she would take place of me then and would not dislike that sir and lady it would be but a new creation however and i never think much of your new it suited mary best to think the one preferred on the very account of charles whose pretensions she wished to see put an end to she looked down very decidedly upon the and thought it would be quite a misfortune to have the existing connection between the families renewed very sad for herself and her children you know said she i cannot think him at all a fit match for and considering the which the have made she has no right to throw herself away i do not think any young woman has a right to make a choice that may be disagreeable and inconvenient to the principal part of her family and be giving bad connections to those who have not been used to them and pray who is charles nothing but a country a most improper match for miss of her husband however would not agree with her persuasion here for besides having a regard for his cousin charles was an eldest son and he saw things as an eldest son himself now you are talking nonsense mary was therefore his answer it would not be a great match for but charles has a very fair chance through the of getting something from the bishop in the course of a year or two and you will please to remember that he is the eldest son whenever my uncle dies he steps into very pretty property the estate at is not less than two hundred and fifty acres besides the farm near which is some of the best land in the country i grant you that any of them but charles would be a very shocking match for and indeed it could not be he is the only one that could be possible but he is a very good natured good sort of a fellow and whenever comes into his hands he will make a different sort of place of it and live in a very different sort of way and with that property he will never be a contemptible man good property no no might do worse than marry charles and if she has him and can get captain i shall be very well satisfied charles may say what he pleases cried mary to anne as soon as he was out of the room but it would be shocking to have marry charles a very bad thing for and still worse for me and therefore it is very much to be wished that captain may soon put him quite out of her head i have very little doubt that he has she took hardly any notice of charles yesterday i wish you had been there to see her behaviour and as to captain s liking as well as it nonsense to say so for he certainly does like a great deal the best but charles is so positive persuasion i wish you had been with us yesterday for then you might have decided between us and i am sure you would have thought as i did unless you had been determined to give it against me a dinner at mr s had been the occasion when all these things should have been seen by anne but she had staid at home under the mixed plea of a headache of her own and some return of in little charles she had thought only of avoiding captain but an escape from being appealed to as was now added to the advantages of a quiet evening as to captain s views she deemed it of more consequence that he should know his own mind early enough not to be the happiness of either sister or his own honour than that he should prefer to or to either of them would in all probability make him an affectionate good humoured wife with regard to charles she had delicacy which must be pained by any lightness of conduct in a well meaning young woman and a heart to in any of the sufferings it occasioned but if found herself mistaken in the nature of her feelings the alteration could not be understood too soon charles had met with much to and him in his cousin s behaviour she had too old a regard for him to be so wholly as might in two meetings every past	26
hope and leave him nothing to do but to keep away from but there was such a change as became very alarming when such a man as captain was to be regarded as the probable cause he had been absent only two sundays and when they parted had left her interested even to the height of his wishes in his prospect of soon his present and obtaining persuasion that of instead it had then seemed the object nearest her heart that dr the who for more than forty years had been all the duties of his office but was now growing too for many of them should be quite fixed on engaging a should make his quite as good as he could afford and should give charles the promise of it the advantage of his having to come only to instead of going six miles another way of his having in every respect a better of his belonging to their dear dr and of dear good dr s being relieved from the duty which he could no longer get through without most injurious fatigue had been a great deal even to but had been almost everything to when he came back alas the zeal of the business was gone by could not listen at all to his account of a conversation which he had just held with dr she was at the window looking out for captain and even had at best only a divided attention to give and seemed to have forgotten all the former doubt and solicitude of the well i am very glad indeed but i always thought you would have it i always thought you sure it did not appear to me that in short you know dr must have a and you had secured his promise is he coming one morning very soon after the dinner at the at which anne had not been present captain walked into the drawing room at the cottage where were only herself and the little invalid charles who was lying on the sofa the surprise of finding himself almost alone with anne deprived his manners of their usual composure he started and could only say i thought the o persuasion miss had been here mrs told me i should find them here before he walked to the window to recollect himself and feel how he ought to behave they are upstairs with my sister they will be down in a few moments i dare say had been anne s reply in all the confusion that was natural and if the child had not called her to come and do something for him she would have been out of the room the next moment and released captain as well as herself he continued at the window and after calmly and politely saying i hope the little boy is better was silent she was obliged to kneel down by the sofa and remain there to satisfy her patient and thus they continued a few minutes when to her very great satisfaction she heard some other person crossing the little she hoped on turning her head to see the master of the house but it proved to be one much less calculated for making matters easy charles probably not at all better pleased by the sight of captain than captain had been by the sight of anne she only attempted to say how do you do will not you sit down the others will be here presently captain however came from his window apparently not ill disposed for conversation but charles soon put an end to his attempts by himself near the table and taking up the newspaper md captain returned to his window another minute brought another addition the younger boy a remarkable stout forward child of two years old having got the door opened for him by some one without made his determined appearance among persuasion and went straight to the sofa to see what was going and put in his claim to anything good that might be giving away there being nothing to be eat he could only have some play and as his aunt would not let him his sick brother he began to fasten himself upon her as she knelt in such a way that busy as she was about charles she could not shake him off she spoke to him ordered and insisted in vain once she did contrive to push him away but the boy had the greater pleasure in getting upon her back again directly walter said she get down this moment you are extremely troublesome i am very angry with you walter cried charles why do you not do as you are bid do not you hear your aunt speak come to me walter come to cousin charles but not a bit did walter stir in another moment however she found herself in the state of being released from him some one was taking him from her though he had bent down her head so much that his little sturdy hands were from around her neck and he was resolutely borne away before she knew that captain had done it her sensations on the discovery made her perfectly speechless she could not even thank him she could only hang over little charles with most disordered feelings his kindness in stepping forward to her relief the manner the silence in which it had passed the little particulars of the circumstance with the conviction soon forced on her by the noise he was making with the child that he meant to avoid hearing her thanks and rather sought to testify that her conversation was the last of his wants produced such a persuasion confusion of but very painful agitation as she could not recover from till enabled by the entrance of mary and the s to make over her little patient to their cares and leave the room she could not	26
stay it might have been an opportunity of watching the loves and of the four they were now altogether but she could stay for none of it it was evident that charles was not well inclined towards captain she had a strong impression of his having said in a tone of voice after captain s interference you ought to have minded walter i told you not to your aunt and could comprehend his that captain should do what he ought to have done himself but neither charles s feelings nor anybody s feelings could interest her till she had a little better arranged her own she was ashamed of herself quite ashamed of being so nervous so overcome by such a trifle but so it was and it required a long application of solitude and reflection to recover her other opportunities of making her observations could not fail to occur anne had soon been in company with all the four together often enough to have an opinion though too wise to acknowledge as much at home where she knew it would have satisfied neither husband nor wife for while she considered to be rather the favourite she could not but think as far as she might dare to judge from memory and experience that captain was not in love with either they were more in love with him yet there it was not love it was a little fever persuasion of admiration but it might probably must end in love with some charles seemed aware of being and yet had sometimes the air of being divided between them anne longed for the power of representing to them all wliat they were about and of pointing out some of the evils they were exposing themselves to she did not attribute to any it was the highest to her to believe captain not in the least aware of the pain he was there was no triumph no pitiful triumph in his manner he had probably never heard and never thought of any claims of charles he was only wrong in accepting the attentions for accepting must be the word of two young women at once after a short struggle however charles seemed to quit the field three days had passed without his coming once to a most decided change he had even refused one regular invitation to dinner and having been found on the occasion by mr with some large books before him mr and mrs were sure all could not be right and talked with grave faces of his studying himself to death it was mary s hope and belief that he had received a positive dismissal from and her husband lived under the constant of seeing him to morrow anne could only feel that charles was wise one morning about this time charles and captain being gone a shooting together as the sisters in the cottage were sitting quietly at work they were visited at the window by the sisters from the mansion house it was a very fine november day and the miss came through the little grounds and stopped for no other purpose than to say that they were going persuasion to take a long walk and therefore concluded mary could not like to go with them and when mary immediately replied with some jealousy at not being supposed a good oh yes i should like to join you very much i am very fond of a long walk anne felt persuaded by the looks of the two girls that it was precisely what they did not wish and admired again the sort of necessity which the family habits seemed to produce of everything being to be communicated and thing being to be done together ever and inconvenient she tried to mary from going but in vain and that being the case thought it best to accept the miss much more cordial invitation to herself to go likewise as she might be useful in turning back with her sister and the interference in any plan of their own i cannot imagine why they should suppose i should not like a long walk said mary as she went up stairs everybody is always supposing that i am not a good and yet they would not have been pleased if we had refused to join them when people come in this manner on purpose to ask us how can one say no just as they were setting off the gentlemen returned they had taken out a young dog which had spoilt their sport and sent them back early their time and strength and spirits were therefore exactly ready for this walk and they entered into it with pleasure could anne have foreseen such a she would have staid at home but from some feelings of interest and curiosity she fancied now that it was too late to and the whole six set forward together in the direction chosen by the miss who evidently considered the walk as under their guidance anne s object was not to be in the way of anybody and where the ow paths across the fields made many persuasion to keep with her brother and sister her pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and die day from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the leaves and withered hedges and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical descriptions of autumn that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness that season which has drawn from every poet worthy of being read some attempt at description or some lines of feeling she occupied her mind as much as possible in such like and but it was not possible that when within reach of captain s conversation with either of the miss she should not try to hear it yet she caught little very remarkable it was mere lively chat such as any	26
young persons on an intimate footing might fall into he was more engaged with than with certainly put more forward for his notice than her sister this distinction appeared to increase and there was one speech of s which struck her after one of the many praises of the day which were continually bursting forth captain added what glorious weather for the admiral and my sister they meant to take a long drive this morning perhaps we may hail them from some of these hills they talked of coming into this side of the country i wonder whereabouts they will upset today oh it does happen very often i assure you but my sister makes nothing of it she would as be tossed out as not ah you make the most of it i know cried but if it were really so i should do just the same in her place if i loved a man as she loves the admiral i would always be with him nothing should ever separate us and i would rather be by him than driven safely by anybody else persuasion it spoken with had you cried he catching the same tone honour you and there was silence between then for a little while anne could not immediately fall into a again the sweet scenes of autumn were for a while put by unless tender with the apt of the declining year with declining and the images of youth and hope and spring all gone together blessed her memory she roused herself to as they struck by order into another path la not this one of the ways to nobody heard or at least nobody answered her however or its for young men are sometimes to be met with about near home was their destination and after another half mile of gradual ascent through large where the at work and the fresh made path spoke the farmer the sweets of poetical and meaning to have spring again they gained the summit of the most considerable hill which parted and and soon commanded a full view of the latter at the foot of the hill on the other side without beauty and without dignity was stretched before an indifferent house standing low and hemmed in by the and buildings of a farm mary exclaimed bless me here is i declare i had no idea well now i we had better turn back i am excessively tired conscious and ashamed and seeing n cousin charles walking along any path or against any gale was ready to do as mary wished t no said charles and no no i cried more eagerly and taking her sister seemed to be arguing the matter warmly persuasion charles in the meanwhile was very decidedly declaring his resolution of calling on his aunt now that he was so near and very evidently though more trying to induce his wife to go too but this was one of the points on which the lady her strength and when he recommended the advantage of resting herself a quarter of an hour at as she felt so tired she resolutely answered oh no indeed walking up that hill again would do her more harm than any sitting down could do her good and in short her look and manner declared that go she would not after a little succession of these sort of and it was settled between charles and his two sisters that he and should just run down for a few minutes to see their aunt and cousins while the rest of the party waited for them at the top of the hill seemed the principal of the plan and as she went a little way with them down the hill still talking to mary took the opportunity of looking scornfully around her and saying to captain it is very unpleasant having such but i assure you i have never been in the house above twice in my life she received no other answer than an artificial smile followed by a contemptuous glance as he turned away which anne perfectly knew the meaning of the brow of the hill where they remained was a cheerful spot returned and mary finding a comfortable seat for herself on the step of a was very well satisfied so long as the others all stood about her but when drew captain away to try for a of nuts in an adjoining hedge row and they were gone by degrees quite out of sight and sound mary was happy no longer she quarrelled with persuasion her own seat was sure had got a much better somewhere and nothing could prevent her from going to look for a better also she turned through the same gate but could not see them anne found a nice seat for her on a dry sunny bank under the hedge row in which she had no doubt of their still being in some spot or other mary sat down for a moment but it would not do she was sure had found a better seat somewhere else and she would go on till she overtook her anne really tired herself was glad to sit down and she very soon heard captain and in the hedge row behind her as if making their way back along the rough wild sort of channel down the centre they were speaking as they drew near s voice was the first distinguished she seemed to be in the middle of some eager speech what anne first heard was and so i made her go i could not bear that she should be frightened from the visit by such nonsense what would i be turned back from doing a thing that i had determined to do and that i knew to be right by the airs and interference of such a person or of any person i may say no i have no idea	26
of being so easily persuaded when i have made up my mind have made it and seemed entirely to have made up hers to call at to day and yet she was as near giving it up out of she would have turned back then but for you she would indeed i am almost ashamed to say it happy for her to have such a mind as yours at hand after the hints you gave just now which did but confirm my own observations the last time i was in company with him i need not affect to have no comprehension of what is going on i see that more than a persuasion mere dutiful morning visit to your aunt was in question and woe him and her too when it comes to things of consequence when they are placed in circumstances requiring fortitude and strength of mind if she have not resolution enough to resist idle interference in such a trifle as this your sister is an amiable creature but yours is the character of decision and firmness i see if you value her conduct or happiness as much of your own spirit into her as you can but this no doubt you have been always doing it is the worst evil of too yielding and a character that no influence over it can be depended on you are never sure of a good impression being everybody may sway it let those who would be happy be firm here is a nut said he catching one down from an upper bough to a beautiful glossy nut which blessed with original strength has all the storms of autumn not a not a weak spot anywhere this nut he continued with playful solemnity while so many of its brethren have fallen and been trodden under foot is still in possession of all the happiness that a nut can be supposed capable of then returning to his former earnest tone my first wish for all whom i am interested in is that they should be firm if would be beautiful and happy in her november of life she will cherish all her present powers of mind he had done and was it would have surprised anne if could have readily answered such a speech words of such interest spoken with such serious warmth she could imagine what was feeling for herself she feared to move lest she should be seen while she remained a bush of low rambling protected her and they were moving on before they were beyond her hearing however spoke again persuasion mary is good natured enough in many respects said she but she does sometimes provoke me excessively by her nonsense and pride the pride she has a great deal too much of the pride we do so wish that charles had married anne instead i suppose you know he wanted to marry anne after a moment s pause captain said do you mean that she refused him oh yes certainly when did that happen i do not exactly know for and i were at school at the time but i believe about a year before he married mary i wish she had accepted him we should all have liked her a great deal better and papa and mamma always think it was her great friend lady s doing that she did not they think charles might not be learned and enough to please lady and that therefore she persuaded anne to refuse him the sounds were retreating and anne distinguished no more her own emotions still kept her fixed she had much to recover from before she could move the listener s fate was not absolutely hers she had heard no evil of herself but she had heard a great deal of veiy painful import she saw how her own character was considered by captain and there had been just that degree of feeling and curiosity about her in his manner which must give her extreme agitation as soon as she could she went after mary and having found and walked back with her to their former station by the felt some comfort in their whole party being immediately wards collected and once more in motion together her spirits wanted the solitude and silence which only numbers could give charles and returned bringing as may be persuasion charles with them the of die anne could not to understand even captain did not admitted to confidence here but that there had been a withdrawing on the gentleman s side and a on the lady s and that they were now very glad to be together again did not admit a looked a little ashamed but very well pleased charles exceedingly happy and they were devoted to each other almost from the first instant of their all setting forward for everything now marked out for captain nothing could he and where many divisions were necessary or even where they were not they walked side by side nearly as much as the other two in a long strip of meadow land where there was ample space for all they were thus divided forming three distinct parties and to that party of the three which boasted least animation and least anne necessarily belonged she joined charles and mary and was tired enough to be very glad of charles s other arm but charles though in very good humour with her was out of temper with his wife mary had herself to him and was now to reap the which consequence was his dropping her arm almost every moment to cut off the heads of some in the hedge with his and when mary began to complain of it and lament her being iu used according to custom in being on the hedge side while anne was never on the other he dropped the arms of both to hunt after a which he had a momentary glance of	26
the hall those rooms had witnessed former meetings which would be brought too painfully before her but she was yet more anxious for the possibility of lady and worth never meeting anywhere they did each other and no renewal of acquaintance m do any good and were lady to together she might think that he had too m possession and she too these points formed lier chief solicitude in her removal from where she felt she had been stationed quite long enough her usefulness to little charles would always give some sweetness to the memory of her two months visit there but he was gaining strength and she had nothing else to stay for the conclusion of her however was n a way which she had not at all imagined captain after being unseen and unheard of at for two whole days appeared again among to justify himself by a relation of what had kept away a letter from his friend captain having found him out at last had brought intelligence of captain s being settled with his at for the winter of their being therefore quite within twenty miles of each other captain had never been in good health since a severe wound which he received s before and captain persuasion worth s anxiety to see him had determined him to go immediately to he had been there for hours his waa his friendship warmly honoured a lively interest excited for his friend and hia description of the fine country about so attended to by the party that an desire to see themselves and a project for going thither was the consequence the young people were all wild to see captain talked of going there again himself it was only seventeen miles from j though november the weather was by no means bad and in short who was the most eager of the eager having the resolution to go and besides the pleasure of doing as she liked being now armed with the idea of merit in maintaining her own way bore down all the wishes of her father and mother for putting it off till summer and to they were to go charles mary anne and captain the first heedless scheme had been to go in the morning and return at night but to this mr for the sake of his horses would not consent and when it came to be considered a day in the middle of november would not leave much time for a new place after seven hours as the nature of tlie country required for going md they were consequently to the night there and not to be expected back till the next day s dinner this was felt to be a considerable and though they met at the great house at rather ao early breakfast hour and set off very it was bo much past noon before the two can mr s coach containing the four ladies and charles s in which he drove captain descending the long hill into and entering upon persuasion tlie street of the town itself that it was very evident they would not have more time for looking about them before the light and warmth of the day were gone after aad ordering a dinner at one of tlie the next thing to be done was to directly down to the sea they were come too late in the year for any amusement or variety which as a public place might offer the rooms were shut up the almost all gone scarcely any family but of the left and as there is nothing to admire in the buildings themselves the remarkable of the town the principal street almost hurrying into the water the walk lo the round the pleasant bay which in the season is animated with bathing machines and company the itself its old wonders and new improvements with the very beautiful line of cliffs stretching out to the east of the town are what the stranger s eye will seek and a very strange stranger it must be who does not see charms in the immediate of to make him wish to know it better the scenes in its neighbourhood with its high grounds and extensive sweeps of country and still more its sweet retired bay backed by dark where fragments of low rock among the make it the happiest spot for watching the sow the tide sitting in contemplation the varieties of the cheerful village of up i above all with its green between rocks where the scattered forest trees and of growth declare that many a generation must have passed away since the partial of the cliff prepared the ground for such a state where a scene so wonderful and so lovely is exhibited lay more than equal any of the resembling scenes of far isle of these places must be visited aod again tc understood the party from passing by the deserted and melancholy looking rooms and de soon found themselves on the sea shore and lingering only aa all must linger and gaze on a first return to the sea who ever deserve to look on it at all proceeded towards the equally their object in itself and on captain a account for in a small house near the foot of an old pier of unknown date were the settled captain turned in to call on his friend the others walked on and he was to join them on the they were by no means tired of wondering and admiring and not even seemed to feel that they had parted with captain long when they saw him coming after them with three companions all well known already by description to be captain and mrs and a captain who was staying with them captain had some time ago been first lieutenant of the and the account which captain had given of him on his return fi om before his warm pr	26
use of him as an excellent young man and an officer whom he had always valued highly which must have stamped him well in the esteem of every listener had been followed by a little history of his private life which rendered him perfectly interesting in the eyes of all the ladies he had been engaged to captain b sister and was now mourning her loss they had been a year or two waiting for fortune and promotion fortune came his prize money as lieutenant being great promotion loo came at but did not live to know it she had died the preceding summer while he was at sea captain believed it impossible for man to be more i persuasion attached to woman than poor men to or to be more deeply under the dreadful change he considered hia disposition as of the sort which must suffer heavily very strong with quiet serious and retiring manners and a decided taste for reading and pursuits to the interest of the story the friendship between him and the seemed if possible by the event wliich closed all their views of and captain was now living witli them entirely captain had taken his present house for half a year his taste and his health and his fortune all directing him to a residence and by the sea and the grandeur of the country and the of in the winter appeared exactly adapted to captain s state of mind the sympathy and good will excited towards captain was very great and yet said anne to herself as they now moved forward to meet the party he has not perhaps a more heart than i have i cannot believe his prospects so for ever he is younger than i am i younger in feeling if not in ct younger as a man he will rally again and be happy with another tbey all met and were introduced captain was a tall dark man with a sensible benevolent countenance a little lame and from strong features and want of health looking much older than captain captain looked and was the youngest of the three and compared with either of them a man he had a pleasing lace and a melancholy air just as he ought to have and drew back captain though not captain in manners was a perfect gentleman unaffected warm and obliging mrs a degree persuasion than her husband however to have the same good feelings and nothing could be more pleasant than desire of considering the whole as friends of their own because the friends of captain or more kindly hospitable than their entreaties for their all promising to dine with them the dinner already ordered at the inn was at last though unwillingly accepted as an excuse but they seemed almost hurt that captain should have brought any party to without it as a thing of course that they should dine with them was so much attachment to captain went j worth in all this and such a charm in a degree of hospitality so uncommon so unlike the usual of give and take invitations and dinners of formality and display that anne felt her spirits not likely to be by an increasing acquaintance among his brother officers these would have been ail friends was her thought and she had to against a great tendency to on the they all went in doors with their new friends and found rooms so small a but those who invite from the heart could think capable of bo many anne had a s astonishment on the subject herself but it was soon lost in the pleasanter feelings which sprang from the sight of al the ingenious and nice arrangements of ca tain to turn the actual space to the best possible account to supply the of lodging house furniture and defend the windows and doors against the winter storms to be expected the it i y i provided by the plight the i species of wood i persuasion worked up and with something curious and valuable from all the distant countries captain had visited were more than amusing to anne connected as it all was with hia profession the fruit of its labours the effect of its influence on hia habits the picture of repose and domestic happiness it presented made it to her something more or than captain was no reader but he had contrived excellent and fashioned very pretty shelves for a tolerable collection of well bound volumes the property of captain his prevented him from taking much exercise but a mind of usefulness and ingenuity seemed to furnish him with constant employment within he drew he v he he he made toys for the children he fashioned new needles and pins with improvements and if else was done sat down to his large net at one ner of there i behind her of if the navy j thought she left great when they quitted the house j and loi she found herself walking burst forth ii admiration and delight on the character their friendliness their their their protesting that she was convinced of sailors having more worth and warmth than any other set of men in england i that they only knew how to live and they only deserved to be respected and loved they went back to dress and dine and so well had the scheme answered already that nothing was found amiss though its being so entirely out of the season aod the no of and the no expectation of company had brought many apologies from die heads of the inn anne found herself by this time growing so much more hardened to being in captain s com persuasion than she had at first imagined could ever be that the sitting down to the same table with him now and the of the attending on it they never got beyond was become a mere nothing the nights were too dark	26
for the to meet again til the morrow but captain had promised them a visit in the evening and he came bringing hie friend also which was more than had been expected it having been agreed that captain had all the appearance of being oppressed by the presence of so many strangers he ventured among them again however though his spirits certainly did not seem fit for j the mirth of the party in general i while captains and led the talk on one side of the room and by to former days supplied anecdotes in abundance to occupy and entertain the others it fell to anne s lot to be placed rather apart with captain and a very good impulse of her nature obliged her to begin an acquaintance with him he was shy and disposed to abstraction j but the engaging of her countenance and gentleness of her manner soon bad their effect and anne was well repaid the first trouble of exertion he was a young man of considerable taste in reading though principally in poetry and besides the persuasion of having given him at feast an evening s indulgence in the discussion of subjects which his usual had probably no concern in she had the hope of being of real use to him in some suggestions as to the duty and benefit of struggling against affliction which had naturally grown out of their conversation for though shy he did not seem reserved it liad rather the appearance of feelings glad to burst their usual and having talked of poetry the richness of the present age and gone through a brief the first rate r comparison of e of m whether or the lady of the were lo be preferred and how the and the bride of and moreover how the was to be he showed himself so intimately with all the songs of the one poet and ail the descriptions of hopeless agony of the other he repeated such tremulous feeling the various lines which a broken heart or a mind by wretchedness and looked so entirely as if he meant to be understood that she ventured to hope he did not always only poetry and to say that she thought it was the misfortune of poetry to be seldom safely enjoyed by those who enjoyed it completely and that the strong feelings which alone could estimate it truly were the very feelings which ought to taste it but his looks him not pained but pleased with this allusion to his situation she was to go on and feeling in herself the right of of mind she ventured to recommend a larger allowance prose in his daily study and on being requested to mentioned such works of our best such of the letters such characters of worth and suffering as occurred to her the moment as calculated to rouse and the mind by the highest and tlie strongest examples of and religious captain listened attentively and seemed grateful for the interest implied and though with a shake of the head and sighs which declared his little faith in the of any books on grief like his noted down the names of those she recommended and promised when the evening was at the idea of he aod to ver anne could n coming to to preach but be persuasion never seen before nor could she help fearing on more serious reflection that like many other great and she had been eloquent on a point in which her own conduct would ill bear examination anne and finding themselves the earliest of the party the next morning agreed to stroll down to the sea before breakfast they went to the sands to watch the flowing of the tide which z fine south breeze was bringing in with all the grandeur which so flat a shore admitted they praised the morning in the sea in the delight of the fresh feeling breeze and were silent till suddenly began again with oh yes i am quite convinced that with very few exceptions the sea air always does good there can be no doubt of its having been of the greatest service to dr after his illness last spring he declares himself that coming to for a month did him more good than all the medicine he took and that being by the sea always makes him feel young again now i cannot help thinking it a pity that he does not live entirely by the sea i do think he had better leave entirely and fix at do not you anne do not you agree with me that it is the best thing he could do both for himself and mrs she has cousins here you know and many acquaintance which would make it cheerful for her and i am sure she would be glad to get to a place where she could have medical attendance at hand in case of his having another indeed i think it quite melancholy to have such excellent persuasion a persuasion t people as dr and mrs who have been doing good all their lives wearing out their last days in a place like where excepting our family they seem shut out from all the world i wish his friends would propose it to him i really think they ought and as to a there could be no difficulty at his time of life and with his character my only doubt is whether anything could persuade him to leave his parish he is so very strict and scrupulous in his notions over scrupulous i must say do not you think anne it is being do not you think it is quite a mistaken point of conscience when a clergyman sacrifices his health for the sake of duties which may be just as well performed by another person and at too only seventeen miles off he would be near enough to hear if	26
people thought there was anything to complain of anne smiled more than once to herself during this speech and entered into the subject as ready to do good by entering into the feelings of a young lady as of a young man though here it was good of a lower standard for what could be offered but general she said all that was reasonable and proper on the business felt the claims of dr to repose as she ought saw how very desirable it was that he should have some active respectable young man as a resident and was even courteous enough to hint at the advantage of such resident s being married i wish said very well pleased with her companion i wish lady lived at and were intimate with dr i have always heard of lady as a woman of the greatest influence with everybody i always look upon her as able to persuade a person to anything i am afraid of her as told you before quite afraid of lo persuasion her she is bo very clever but i le ct and wish we had such a anne was amused by s manner of being grateful and amused that the course of events and the new interests of s views should have placed her friend at all in favour with any of the she had only time however for a general answer and a wish that such another woman were at before all subjects suddenly ceased on and captain coming towards them they came also for a stroll till breakfast was likely to be ready but immediately afterwards that she had something to procure at a shop invited them all to go back with her into the town they were all at her disposal when they came to the steps leading upwards from the beach a gentleman at the same moment preparing to come down politely drew back and stopped to ve them way tliey ascended and passed him and as they passed anne s face caught his eye and he looked at her with a degree of earnest admiration which she could not be insensible of she was looking remark well her very regular very pretty features having the bloom and freshness of youth restored by the fine wind which had been blowing on her complexion ad i by the animation of eye which it had also produced it was evident that the gentleman completely a gentle man in manner admired her exceedingly looked round at her which his noticing of it momentary glance a glance of brightness w to say that man is struck with you an this moment see something like anne again after attending through her business and about a little longer they returned to the inn hich seemed d even i at w persuasion ard anne in afterwards quickly from her own chamber to their dining room had nearly run against the very gentleman as he came out of an apartment she had before him to be a stranger like and determined that a groom who was strolling about near the two as they came back should be his servant both master and man being in mourning assisted the idea it was now proved that he belonged to the same inn as themselves and this second meeting short as it was also proved again by the gentleman s looks that he thought hers very lovely and by the readiness and propriety of his apologies that he was a man of exceedingly good manners he seemed thirty and though not handsome had an agreeable person anne felt tliat she should like to know who he was they had nearly done breakfast when the sound of a carriage almost the first they had heard since entering drew half the party to the window it was a gentleman s carriage a but only coming round from the stable yard to the front door somebody must be going away it was driven by a servant in mourning the word made charles jump up that he might compare it with his own the servant in mourning roused anne s curiosity and the whole six were collected to look by the time the owner of the was to be seen issuing from the door amidst i the bows and of the household and taking j ah cried captain instantly and with half a glance at anne it ia the very man wc the miss ed to it s and having all kindly watched him as far up the hill as they could they returned to the breakfast table the waiter came into room soon afterwards i persuasion pray said captain immediately can you tell us the name of the gentleman who is just gone away yes sir a mr a gentleman of large fortune came in last night from dare say you heard the carriage sir while you were at dinner and going on now for on his way to bath and london many had looked on each other and many had repeated the name before all this had been got through even by the smart rapidity of a waiter bless me cried mary it must be our cousin it must be our mr it must indeed charles anne must not it in mourning you see just as our mr must be how very extraordinary in the very same inn with us anne must not it be our mr my father s next heir pray sir turning to the waiter did not you hear did not his servant say whether he belonged to the family no ma am he did not mention no particular family but he said his master was a very rich gentleman and would be a some day there you see cried mary in an ecstasy just as i said heir to sir walter i was sure that would come out if it was so depend upon it that is a circumstance which his servants	26
take care to publish wherever he goes but anne only conceive how extraordinary i wish i had looked at him more i wish we had been aware in time who it was that he might have been introduced to us what a pity that we should not have been introduced to each other do you think he had the countenance i hardly looked at him i was looking at the horses but i think he had something of the countenance i wonder the arms did not strike me oh the great coat was hanging over the and hid the arms so it did persuasion lot a she would otherwise i am sure i should have observed them and the livery too if servant had not been in one should have known him by the livery all these very extraordinary together captain th wc must consider it to be the arrangement of providence that you should not be introduced to your cousin when she could command mary s attention anne quietly tried to convince her that their father and mr had not for many years been on such terms as to make the power of attempting an introduction at desirable at the same time however it was a sec to herself to have seen her cousin and that the future owner of and had an air of good dot upon any account mention her having met with him the second time luckily mary did not much attend to their having passed close by him in their early walk but she would have felt quite ill used by anne s having actually run against him in the passage and received his very polite excuses while she had never near at all no that little interview remain a perfect secret k of course said mary you will mention our mr the next time you write to bath i my certainly ought to hear of it do all about him r anne avoided a direct reply but it was just tlie which she considered as not merely unnecessary to be communicated but as what ought to be suppressed the which had been given her father many years back she knew elizabeth s particular share in it she suspected and that mr s idea always produced irritation in both was beyond a doubt ma herself j ail the toil no persuasion of keeping up a slow and unsatisfactory correspondence with elizabeth fell on anne breakfast had not been long over when they were joined by captain and mrs and captain with whom they had appointed to take their last walk about they ought to be setting off for by one and in the mean while were to be all together and out of doors as long as they could anne found captain ben getting near her as soon as they were ail fairly in the street their conversation tlie preceding evening did not him to seek her again and they walked together some time talking as before of mr scott and lord and still as unable as before and as unable as any other two readers to think exactly alike of the merits of either till something occasioned an almost general change amongst their party and instead of captain she had captain by her side miss said he speaking rather low you have done a good deed in making that poor fellow talk so much i wish he could have such company oftener it is bad for him i know to be shut up as he is but what can v e do we cannot part no said anne that i can easily believe to be impossible but in time perhaps we know what time does in every case of affliction and you must remember captain that your friend may yet be called a young only last summer i understand ay true enough with a deep sigh only june and not known to him perhaps so soon not till the first week in august when he came home from the cape just made into the i was at to hear of him he sent in letters but the was under orders for there the news must follow him but who l ill was to tell it not i i would as soon have been run up to the yard arm nobody could do it but that good fellow pointing to captain the had come into the week before no danger of her being sent to sea again he stood his chance for the rest wrote up for leave of absence but without waiting the return travelled night and day till ne got to rowed off to the that instant and never left the poor fellow for a week that s what he did and nobody else could have saved poor james you may think miss whether he is dear to us anne did think on the question with perfect decision and said as much in reply as her own feelings could accomplish or as his seemed able to bear for he was too much affected to renew the subject and when he spoke again it was of something totally different mrs s giving it as her opinion that her husband would have quite walking enough by the time he reached home determined the direction of all the party in what was to be their last walk they would accompany them to their door and then return and set off themselves by all their calculations there was just time for this but as they drew near the there was such a general wish to walk along it once more all were so inclined and soon grew so determined that the difference of a quarter of an hour it was found would be no difference at all so with all the kind leave taking and all the kind of invitations and promises which may be imagined they parted from captain and mrs at their	26
own door and still accompanied by captain who seemed to cling to them to the last proceeded to make the proper to the anne found captain again drawing near her lord s dark blue seas could not persuasion fail of being brought forward by their present v and she gladly gave him all her attention as as attention was possible it was soon another way there was too wind to make the high part of tlie new pleasant for the ladies and they agreed to get down the steps to the lower and all were contented to pass and down the steep flight excepting she must be jumped down them by captain in all their walks he had had to jump her from the the sensation waa delightful to her the hardness of the pavement for her feet made him less willing upon the present occasion he did it however she was safely down and instantly to show her enjoyment ran up the steps to be jumped down again he advised her against it thought the jar too great but no he reasoned and talked in vain she smiled and said i am determined i v he put out his hands she was too by half second she fell on the pavement on the lower and was taken up lifeless there was no wound o blood no visible but her eyes were closed s breathed not her face was like death the horror q that moment to all who stood around captain who had caught her with her in his arms looking on her with a face i pallid as her own in an agony of dead she is dead screamed mary catching hold a her husband and with his own horror to make him and in another moment sinking under the conviction lost her too and would have fallen on the steps but for captain ho caught and supported her between them is there i words wliich burst from captain in i persuasion tone of despair and as if all his own strength were gone go to him go to him cried anne for heaven s sake go to him i can support her myself leave me and go to him rub her hands rub her temples here are take them take them captain obeyed and charles at the same moment himself from his wife they were both with him and was raised up and supported more firmly between them and everything was done that anne had prompted but in vain while captain staggering against the wall for his support exclaimed in the bitterest agony oh god her father and mother a surgeon said anne he caught the word it seemed to rouse him at once and saying only true true a surgeon this instant was darting away when anne eagerly suggested captain would not it be better for captain he knows where a surgeon is to be found every one capable of thinking felt the advantage of the idea and in a moment it was all done in rapid moments captain had resigned the poor corpse like figure entirely to the brother s care and was off for the town with the utmost rapidity as to the wretched party left behind it could scarcely be said which of the three who were completely rational was suffering most captain went worth anne or charles who really a very affectionate brother hung over with sobs of grief and could only turn his eyes from one sister to see the other in a state as insensible or to witness the hysterical of his wife calling on him for help which he could not give persuasion anne attending with all the strength and zeal and thought which instinct supplied to still tried at intervals to suggest comfort to the others tried to quiet mary to charles to the feelings of captain both seemed to look to her for directions anne anne cried charles what is to be done next what in heaven s name is to be done next captain s eyes were also turned towards her had not she better be carried to the inn yes i am sure carry her gently to the inn yes yes to the inn repeated captain comparatively collected and eager to be doing something i will carry her myself take care of the others by this time the report of the accident had spread among the workmen and about the and many were collected near them to be useful if wanted at any rate to enjoy the sight of a dead young lady nay two dead young ladies for it proved twice as fine as the first report to some of the best looking of these good people was consigned for though partially revived she was quite helpless and in this manner anne walking by her side and charles attending to his wife they set forward treading back with feelings unutterable the ground which so lately so very lately and so light of heart they had passed along they were not off the before the met them captain had been seen flying by their house with a countenance which showed something to be wrong and they had set off immediately informed and directed as they passed towards the spot shocked as captain was he brought senses and nerves that could be instantly useful and a look persuasion between him and his wife what was to be done she must be taken to their all must go to house i and wait the surgeon s arrival there they would not listen to scruples he was obeyed they were all beneath his roof and while under mrs a direction was conveyed up stairs and given possession of her own bed assistance were supplied by her husband to all who needed them had once opened her eyes but soon closed them again without apparent consciousness this had been a proof of life of service to	26
her sister and though perfectly ble of being in the same room with was kept by the agitation of hope and fear from a return of her own mary too was growing calmer the surgeon was with them almost before it had seemed possible they were with horror while he examined but he was not hopeless the he id had received a severe but he had seen greater injuries recovered from he was by no means hopeless he spoke cheerfully that he did not regard it as a desperate case that he did not a few hours must end it was at first felt beyond the hope of most and the of such a the rejoicing deep and silent after a few fervent ol gratitude to heaven had been offered may be conceived the tone the look with which thank god was uttered by captain anne was sure could never be forgotten by her nor the sight of him afterwards as he sat near a table leaning over it with folded arms and face concealed as if overpowered by s feelings of his soul and trying by prayer and u calm them s limbs had escaped there was no injury to the head il persuasion it now became necessary for the party to consider what was best to be done as to their general situation they were now able to speak to each other and consult that remain where she was however distressing to her friends to be the in such trouble did not admit a doubt her removal was impossible the silenced all scruples and as much as they could all gratitude they had looked forward and arranged everything before the others began to reflect captain must give up his room to them and get a bed elsewhere and the whole was settled they were only concerned that the house could accommodate no more and yet perhaps by putting the children away in the maid s room or swinging a cot somewhere they could hardly bear to think of not finding room for two or three besides supposing they might wish to stay though with regard to any attendance on miss there need not be the least uneasiness in leaving her to mrs s care entirely mrs was a very experienced nurse and her nursery maid who had lived with her long and gone about with her everywhere was just such another between those two she could want no possible attendance by day or night and all this was said with a truth and sincerity of feeling irresistible charles and captain were the three in consultation and for a little while it was only an of perplexity and terror the necessity of some one s going to the news to be conveyed how it could be broken to mr and mrs the of the morning an hour already gone since they ought to have been off the impossibility of being in tolerable time at first they were capable of nothing more to the purpose than such exclamations but after a while captain himself said we be decided and without the loss of another minute every minute is valuable some one must resolve on being off for instantly either you or i must go charles agreed but declared hia of not going away he would be as little as possible u captain and mrs but as to leaving in such a state he neither ought nor would so far it waa decided and at first declared the same she however was soon persuaded to think differently the usefulness of her staying she who had not been able to remain in s room or to look at her without sufferings which made her worse than helpless she was forced to acknowledge that she could do no good yet was still unwilling to be away till touched by the thought of her father and mother ihe gave it up she consented she was anxious to be at home the plan had reached this point when anne coming quietly down from s room could not but hear what followed for the parlour door waa open then it ia settled cried captain that you stay and that i take care of your sister home but as to the rest as to the others if one stays to assist mrs i think it need be only one charles will of course wish to get back to her children but if anne will stay no one so proper ao capable as anne she paused a moment to recover from the emotion of g herself ao spoken of the other two warmly to what he said and she then appeared you will stay i am sure you will stay and he turning to her and speaking with a glow and a which seemed almost restoring the past coloured deeply and he recollected himself and away she expressed herself most willing il persuasion ready happy to remain it was what she had been thinking of and wishing to be allowed to do a bed on the floor in s room would be sufficient for her if mrs would but think so one thing more and all seemed arranged though it was rather desirable that mr and mrs should be previously alarmed by some share of delay yet the time required by the horses to take them back would be a dreadful extension of suspense and captain proposed and charles agreed that it would be much better for him to take a chaise from the inn and leave mr s and horses to be sent home the next morning early when there could be the farther advantage of sending an account of s night captain now hurried off to get everything ready on his part and to be soon followed by the two ladies when the plan was made known to mai y however there was an end of all peace in it she was so wretched	26
and so vehement complained so much of injustice in being expected to go away instead of anne anne who was nothing to while she was her sister and had the best right to stay in s stead why was not she to be as useful as anne and to go home without charles too without her husband no it was too unkind and in short she said more than her husband could long withstand and as none of the others could oppose when he gave way here was no help for it the change of mary for anne was inevitable anne had never submitted more reluctantly to the jealous and ill judging claims of mary but so it must be and they set off for the town charles taking care of his sister and captain ben attending to her she gave a moment s recollection as they hurried along to the little circumstances which the same spots had persuasion witnessed earlier in the morning there she had listened to s schemes for dr s leaving farther on had first seen mr a moment seemed all that could now be given to any one but or those who were wrapped up in her welfare captain was most attentive to her i and united as they all seemed by the distress of the day she felt an increasing degree of good will him and a pleasure even in thinking that it might perhaps be the occasion of continuing their acquaintance captain was on the watch for them and a chaise and four in waiting stationed for their convenience in the lowest part of the street but his evident surprise and vexation at the of one sister for the other the change of countenance the astonishment the expressions begun and suppressed with which charles was listened to made but a reception of anne j or must at least convince her that she was valued only as she could be useful to she endeavoured to be composed and to be just without the feelings of an towards her henry she v zeal above the co and she hoped he hav e she would shrink in the mean while handed them both on with i of regard for his sake long be bo unjust as to ly from the office he carriage he had id placed himself between them these full of astonishment and emotion to anne quitted how tlie long stage would pass how it was to what was to be their sort of intercourse she could not foresee it was quite natural however he was devoted to always turning i persuasion towards her and when he spoke at all always with the view of supporting her hopes and raising her spirits in general his voice and manner were calm to spare from agitation seemed the governing principle once only when she had been over the last ill judged ill fated walk to the bitterly that it ever had been thought of he burst forth as if wholly overcome don t talk of it don t talk of it he cried oh god that i had not given way to her at the fatal moment had i done as i ought but so eager and so resolute dear sweet anne wondered whether it ever occurred to him now to question the of his own previous opinion as to the universal felicity and advantage of firmness of character and whether it might not strike him that like all other qualities of the mind it should have its proportions and limits she thought it could scarcely escape him to feel that a temper might sometimes be as much in favour of happiness as a very resolute character they got on fast anne was astonished to recognise the same hills and the same objects so soon their actual speed heightened by some dread of the conclusion made the road appear but half as long as on the day before it was growing quite dusk however before they were in the neighbourhood of and there had been total silence among them for some time leaning back in the corner with a shawl over her face giving the hope of her having cried herself to sleep when as they were going up their last hill anne found herself all at once addressed by captain in a low cautious voice he said i have been considering what we had best do she must not appear at first she could not stand it i have been thinking whether you had not better remain persuasion in the carriage with her while i go in and break it to mr and mrs do you think this a good plan she did he was satisfied and said no more but the remembrance of the appeal remained a pleasure to her as a proof of friendship and of deference for her judgment a great pleasure and when it became a sort of parting proof its value did not lessen when the distressing communication at was over and he had seen the father and mother quite as composed as could be hoped and the daughter all the better for being with them he announced his intention of returning in the same carriage to and when the horses were he was off cl the remainder of anne s time at only two days was spent entirely at the mansion house and she had the satisfaction of knowing herself extremely useful there both as an immediate companion and as assisting in all those arrangements for the future which in mr and mrs s distressed state of spirits would have been difficulties they had an early account from the next morning was much the same no symptoms worse than before had appeared charles came a few hours afterwards to bring a later and more particular account he was tolerably cheerful a speedy cure must not be hoped but everything was going on as well as the nature	26
of the case admitted in speaking of the he seemed unable to satisfy his own sense of their kindness especially of mrs s exertions as persuasion a nurse she really left nothing for mary to do he and mary had been persuaded to go early to their inn last night mary had been hysterical again this morning when he came away she was going to walk out with captain which he hoped would do her good he almost wished she had been prevailed on to come home the day before but the truth was that mrs left nothing for anybody to do charles was to return to the same afternoon and his father had at first half a mind to go with him but the ladies could not consent it would be going only to trouble to the others and increase his own distress and a much better scheme followed and was acted upon a chaise was sent for from and charles conveyed back a far more useful person in the old nursery maid of the family one who having brought up all the children and seen the very last the lingering and long master harry sent to school after his brothers was now living in her deserted nursery to mend stockings and dress all the and she could get near her and who consequently was only too happy in being allowed to go and help nurse dear miss vague wishes of getting thither had occurred before to mrs and but without anne it would hardly have been resolved on and found practicable so soon they were indebted the next day to charles for all the minute knowledge of which it was so essential to obtain every twenty four hours he made it his business to go to and his account was still encouraging the intervals of sense and consciousness were believed to be stronger every report agreed in captain s appearing fixed in anne was to leave them on the morrow an event which they all dreaded what should they do without her they were wretched for one an persuasion other and so much was said in this way that anne thought she could not do better than impart among them the general inclination to which she was and persuade them all to go to at once she had difficulty it was soon determined that they would go go to morrow fix themselves at the inn or get into lodgings as it suited and there remain till dear could be moved they must be taking off some trouble from the good people she was with they might at least relieve mrs from the care of her own children and in short they were so happy in the decision that anne was delighted with what she had done and felt that she could not spend her last morning at better than in assisting their preparations and sending them off at an early hour though her being left to the solitary range of the house was the consequence she was the last excepting the little boys at the cottage she was the very last the only remaining one of all that had filled and animated both houses of all that had given its cheerful character a few days had made a change indeed if recovered it would all be well again more than former happiness would be restored there could not be a doubt to her mind there was none of what would follow her recovery a few months hence and the room now so deserted occupied but by her silent pensive self might be filled again with all that was happy and gay all that was glowing and bright in prosperous love all that was most unlike anne an hour s complete leisure for such reflections as these on a dark november day a small thick rain almost out the very few objects ever to be discerned from the windows was enough to make the sound of lady s carriage exceedingly welcome persuasion and though desirous to be gone she could not quit the mansion house or look an adieu to the cottage with its black dripping and or even notice through the misty glasses the last humble of the village a heart scenes had passed in which made it precious it stood the record of many sensations of pain once severe but now softened and of some instances of feeling some of friendship and reconciliation which could never be looked for again and which could never cease to be dear she left it all behind her all but the recollection that such things had been anne had never entered since her lady s house in september it had not been necessary and the few occasions of its being possible for her to go to the hall she had contrived to and escape from her first return was to resume her place in the modern and elegant apartments of the lodge and to the eyes of its mistress there was some anxiety mixed with lady s joy in meeting her she knew who had been but happily either anne was improved in and looks or lady fancied her so and anne in her compliments on the occasion had the amusement of connecting them with the silent admiration of her cousin and of hoping that she was to be blessed with a second spring of youth and beauty when they came to converse she was soon sensible of some mental change the subjects of which her heart had been full on leaving and which she had felt and been compelled to among the were now become but of secondary interest she had lately lost sight even of her father and sister and bath their concerns had been sunk under persuasion those of and when lady to their former hopes and fears and spoke her satisfaction in the house in place which had been taken and her regret that mrs clay	26
should still be with them anne would have been ashamed to have it known how much more she was thinking of and and all her acquaintance there how much more interesting to her was the home and the friendship of the and captain than her own father s house in place or her own sister s intimacy with mrs clay she was actually forced to exert herself to meet lady with anything like the appearance of equal solicitude on topics which had by nature the first claim on her there was a little awkwardness at first in their discourse on another subject they must speak of the accident at lady had not been arrived five minutes the day before when a full account of the whole had burst on her but still it must be talked of she must make she must regret the lament the result and captain s name must be mentioned by both anne was conscious of not doing it so well as lady she could not speak the name and look straight forward to lady s eye till she had adopted the expedient of telling her briefly what she thought of the attachment between him and when this was told his name distressed her no longer lady had only to listen and wish them happy but her heart in angry pleasure in pleased contempt that the man who at twenty three had seemed to understand somewhat of the value of an anne should eight years afterwards be charmed by a the first three or four days passed most quietly with no circumstance to mark them excepting the re persuasion of a note or two from l which found their way to anne she could not tell how and brought a rather improving account of at the end of that period lady s politeness could repose no longer and the fainter self of the past became in a decided tone i must call on mrs i really must call upon her soon anne have you courage to go with me and pay a visit in that house it will be some trial to us both anne did not shrink from it on the contrary she truly felt as she said in observing i think you are very likely to suffer the most of the two your feelings are less reconciled to the change than mine by remaining in the neighbourhood i am become to it she could have said more on the subject for she had in fact so high an opinion of the and considered her father so very fortunate in his tenants felt the parish to be so sure of a good example and the poor of the best attention and relief that however sorry and ashamed for the necessity of the removal she could not but in conscience feel that they were gone who deserved not to stay and that hall had passed into better hands than its owners these convictions must unquestionably have their own pain and severe was its kind but they that pain which lady would suffer in entering the house again and returning through the well known apartments in such moments anne had no power of saying to herself these rooms ought to belong only to us oh how fallen in their destination how occupied an ancient family to be so driven away strangers filling their place no except when she thought of her mother and remembered where she had been used to sit and she had no of that description to heave persuasion always met her with a kindness which gave her the pleasure of herself a favourite and ud the occasion her in that house there was particular attention the sad accident at waa soon the prevailing j topic and on comparing their latest accounts of invalid it appeared that each lady dated her intelligence from the same hour of that captain had been in yesterday the first time since the accident had brought anne the last note which she had not been able to trace the exact steps of had staid a few hours and then returned again to and without any present intention of it any he had after her she found particularly had expressed hia hope of miss s not being the worse for her exertions and had spoken of those exertions as great this was handsome and gave her more pleasure than almost anything else could have done as to the sad catastrophe itself it could he only in one style by a couple of steady sensible women whose judgments had to work on ascertained events and it waa perfectly decided that it had been the consequence of much and much that its effects were most alarming and that it was frightful to think how long miss s recovery might yet be doubtful and how liable she would still remain to from the hereafter the admiral wound it all up by exclaiming ay a very bad business indeed a new sort of way this for a young fellow to be making love by breaking his mistress s head is not it miss this is breaking a head and giving a plaster truly admiral s manners were not quite of the tone to suit lady but they delighted anne his goodness of heart and simplicity of character were persuasion now this must be very bad for you said he suddenly rousing from a little reverie to be coming and finding us here i had not recollected it before i declare but it must be very bad but now do not stand upon ceremony get up and go over all the rooms in the house if you like it another time sir i thank you not now well whenever it suits you you can slip in from the at any time and there you will find we keep our hanging up by that door a good place is not it but checking himself you	26
will not think it a good place for yours were always kept in the butler s room ay so it always is i believe one man s ways may be as good as another s but we all like our own best and so you must judge for yourself whether it would be better for you to go about the house or not anne finding she might decline it did so very gratefully we have made very few changes either continued the admiral after thinking a moment very few we told you about the door at that has been a very great improvement the wonder was how any family upon earth could bear with the inconvenience of its opening as it did so long you will tell sir walter what we have done and that mr shepherd thinks it the greatest improvement the house ever had indeed i must do ourselves the justice to say that the few alterations we have made have been all very much for the better my wife should have the credit of them however i have done very little besides sending away some of the large looking glasses from my dressing room which was your father s a very good man and very much the gentleman i am sure but i should think miss looking with serious reflection i should think he must be rather a persuasion man for his time of life such a number of looking glasses oh lord there was no getting away from one s self so i got to lend me a hand and we soon shifted their quarters and now i am quite snug with my little glass in one comer and another great thing that i never go near anne amused in spite of herself was rather distressed for an answer and the admiral fearing he might not have been civil enough took up the subject again to say the next time you write to your good father miss pray give my compliments and mrs s and say that we are settled here quite to our liking and have no fault at all to find with the place the breakfast room chimney a little i grant you but it is only when the wind is due north and blows hard which may not happen three times a winter and take it altogether now that we have been into most of the houses and can judge there is not one that we like better than this pray say so with my compliments he will be glad to hear it lady and mrs were very well pleased each other but the acquaintance which this visit began was fated not to proceed far at present for when it was returned the announced themselves to be going away for a few weeks to visit their in the north of the county and probably might not be at home again before lady would be removing to bath so ended all danger to anne of meeting captain at hall or of seeing him in company with her friend everything was safe enough and she smiled over the many anxious feelings she had wasted on the subject persuasion chapter fl if though charles and mary had remained at much longer after mr and mrs s going than anne conceived they could have been at all wanted they were yet the first of the family to be at home again and as soon as possible after their return to they drove over to the lodge they had left beginning to sit up but her head though clear was exceedingly weak and her nerves susceptible to the highest extreme of tenderness and though she might be pronounced to be altogether doing very well it was still impossible to say when she might be able to bear the removal home and her father and mother who must return in time to receive their younger children for the christmas holidays had hardly a hope of being allowed to bring her with them they had been all in lodgings together mrs had got mrs s children away as much as she could every possible supply from had been furnished to the inconvenience to the while the had been wanting them to come to dinner every day and in short it seemed to have been only a struggle on each side as to which should be most disinterested and hospitable mary had had her evils but upon the whole as was evident by her staying so long she had found more to enjoy than to suffer charles had been at oftener than suited her and when they dined with the there had been only a maid servant to wait and at first mrs had always given mrs but then she had received so very handsome an apology from her on finding out whose daughter she was and there had been so much going on every day there had been so many walks persuasion their and the and had got the and changed them ao often that the balance had certainly been much in of she had been taken to too and she had bathed and she had gone to and there we e a great many more people to look at in the church at than at and all this joined to tile sense of being so very useful had made really an agreeable anne d after captain mary s face was clouded charles laughed oh captain is very well i believe but he is a very odd young i do know what he would be at we asked him to come home with us for a day or two charles undertook to give him some shooting and he quite delighted and for my part i thought it was all settled when behold on tuesday night he made a very awkward sort of an excuse he never shot and he had been quite misunderstood and he had promised this and	26
follow then sir walter talked of his youngest daughter mr must give him leave to present him to his youngest daughter there was no occasion for remembering mary and anne smiling and blushing very to mr the pretty features which he had by no means forgotten and instantly saw with amusement at his little start of surprise that he had not been at all aware of who she was he looked completely astonished but not more astonished than pleased his eyes brightened and with the most perfect alacrity he welcomed the relationship alluded to the past and entreated to be received as an acquaintance already he was quite as good looking as he had ap persuasion at his countenance improved by speaking and hia manners were ao exactly what they ought to be polished ao easy so agreeable that could compare them io excellence to only one person s manners they were not the same but they were perhaps equally good he sat down with them and their conversation very much there could be no doubt of his being a sensible man ten minutes were enough to that his tone liis expressions hia choice of subject his knowing where to it was all the operation of a sensible mind as soon as he could he began to talk to her of wanting to compare opinions respecting the place but especially wanting to of the circumstance of their to be guests in the same inn at the same to give hia own route understand something of hers and regret that he should lost such an op of paying his respects to her she gave him a short account of her party and business at his regret increased as he listened he had spent hia whole solitary evening in the room adjoining had heard voices mirth continually thought must be a most delightful of people longed to be with them but certainly without the smallest suspicion of his possessing the shadow of a right to introduce himself if he had but asked who the party were the name of would have told him enough well it would serve to cure him of an absurd practice of never asking a question at an inn which he had adopted when quite a young man on the principle of its being very to be curious the notions of a young man of one or two and twenty said he as to what la necessary in manners to make him quite die thing are more i believe than those of any other set of bein in the world persuasion the folly of the means they often employ is only to be equalled by the folly of what they have in view but he must not be addressing his reflections to anne alone he knew it he was soon diffused again among the others and it was only at intervals that he could return to his however produced at length an account of the scene she had been engaged in there soon after his leaving the place having alluded to an accident he must hear the whole when he questioned sir walter and elizabeth began to question also but the difference in their manner of doing it could not be she could only compare mr to lady in the wish of really what had passed and in the degree of concern for what she must have suffered in witnessing it he staid an hour with them the elegant little clock on the mantel piece had struck eleven with its silver sounds and the was beginning to be heard at a distance telling the same tale before mr or any of them seemed to feel that he had been there long anne could not have supposed it possible that her first evening in place could have passed so well there was one point which anne on returning to her family would have been more thankful to ascertain even than mr s being in love with elizabeth which was her father s not being in love with mrs clay and she was very far from easy about it when she had been at home a few hours on going down to breakfast the next morning she found persuasion there had just been a decent pretence on tlie lady s side f meaning to leave them she could imagine mrs clay to have that now miss anne was come she could not suppose at all wanted for elizabeth was replying in a sort of that must not be any reason indeed i assure you i feel it none she is nothing to me compared with you and she was in full to hear her father say my dear madam this must not be as yet you have seen nothing of bath you have been here only to be useful you must not run away from us now you must stay to be acquainted with the beautiful mrs to your fine mind i well know the sight of beauty la a real he spoke and looked so much in earnest that anne was not surprised to see mrs clay stealing a glance at elizabeth and herself her countenance perhaps might express some but the praise of the fine mind did not appear to excite a thought in her sister the lady could not but yield to such joint entreaties and promise to stay in the course of the same anne and her father to be alone together he began to compliment her on her improved looks he thought her less thin in her person in her cheeks her skin her complexion greatly improved clearer had she been using anything in particular no nothing merely he supposed no nothing at all ha he was surprised at that and added certainly you cannot do better than continue as you are you cannot be better than well or should recommend the constant use of during the spring months mrs clay has been	26
using it at my recommendation and you sec what it has done for her you see how it has carried away her persuasion if elizabeth could bat have heard this personal praise might have struck her especially as it did not appear to anne that the were at all lessened but everything must take its chance the evil of the marriage would be much diminished if elizabeth were also to marry as for herself she might always command a home with lady lady s composed mind and polite manners were put to some trial on this point in her intercourse in place the sight of mrs clay in such favour and of anne so overlooked was a perpetual provocation to her there and vexed her as much when she was away as a person in bath who drinks the water gets all the new and has a very large acquaintance has time to be vexed as mr became known to her she grew more charitable or more indifferent towards the others hia manners were an immediate recommendation and on conversing with him she found the solid so fully supporting the superficial that she was at first as she told anne almost ready to exclaim can this be mr and could not seriously picture to herself a more agreeable or man everything united in him good understanding correct opinions knowledge of the world and a warm heart he had strong feelings of family attachment and family honour without pride or weakness he lived with the liberality of a man of fortune without display he judged for himself in everything essential without public opinion in any point of worldly decorum he was steady observant moderate candid never run away with by spirits or by selfishness which fancied itself strong feeling and yet with a sensibility to what was amiable and lovely and a value for all the of domestic life which characters of fancied enthusiasm and violent agitation seldom really possess she was sure that he persuasion had not been happy in colonel said it and lady saw it but it had been no to sour his mind nor she began pretty to suspect to prevent his thinking of a second choice her in mr all the plague of mrs clay it was now some years since anne had begun to learn that she and her excellent friend could sometimes think differently and it did not surprise her therefore that lady should see nothing suspicious or nothing to require more motives than appeared in mr s great desire of a reconciliation in lady s view it was perfectly natural that mr at a mature time of life should feel it a most desirable object and what would very generally recommend him among all sensible people to be on good terms with the head of his family the simplest process in the world of time upon a head naturally clear and only in the of youth anne presumed however still to smile about it and at last to mention elizabeth lady listened and looked and made only this cautious reply elizabeth well time will explain it was a reference to the future which anne after a little observation felt she must submit to she could determine nothing at present in that house elizabeth must be first and she was in the habit of such general as miss that any of attention seemed almost impossible mr too it must be remembered had not been a seven months a little delay on his side might be very in fact anne could never see the round his hat without fearing that she was the one in to him such for though his marriage had not been very happy it existed so many years that she could not persuasion a very rapid recovery from the awful of its being dissolved however it might end he was without any question their acquaintance in bath she saw nobody equal to him and it was a great indulgence now and then to talk to him about l which he seemed to have as lively a wish to see again and to see more of as herself they went through the particulars of their first meeting a great many times he gave her to understand that he had looked at her with some earnestness she knew it well and she remembered another person s look also they did not always think alike i s value for rank and she perceived to be greater than hers it was not merely it must be a liking to the cause which made him enter warmly into her father and sister s on a subject which she thought unworthy to excite them the bath paper one morning announced the arrival of the and her daughter the honourable miss and all the comfort of no place was swept away for many days for the in anne s opinion most unfortunately were cousins of the and the agony was how to introduce themselves properly anne had never seen her father and sister before in contact with nobility and she must acknowledge herself disappointed she had hoped better things from their high ideas of their own situation in life and was reduced to form a wish which she had never foreseen a wish that they had more pride for our cousins lady and miss our cousins the sounded in her ears all day long sir walter had once been in company with the late but had never seen any of the rest of the family and the difficulties of the case arose from there ts having been a of al intercourse by letters of ceremony ever since tbe death of that late when in consequence of a dangerous illness of sir walter s at the same time there liad been an unlucky at no letter of had been sent to ireland the neglect had been visited on the head of the sinner for when poor lady	26
died herself no letter of was received at and consequently there was but too much reason to apprehend that the considered the as closed how to have this anxious business set to rights and be admitted as cousins again was the question and it was a question which in a more rational manner neither lady nor mr thought unimportant family were always worth preserving good company always worth seeking lady had taken a house for three months in place and would he living in style she had been at bath the year before and lady had heard her spoken of as a charming woman it was very desirable that the should be renewed if it could be done without any compromise of propriety on of the sir walter however would choose his own means and at last wrote a very fine letter of ample explanation regret and entreaty to his right cousin neither lady nor mr could admire the letter but it did all that was wanted in bringing three lines of from the she was very much honoured and should be happy in their acquaintance the toils of the business were over the sweets began they visited in place they had the cards of and tbe honourable miss to be wherever y might be most visible and our cousins in our lady and were talked of to everybody persuasion anne was ashamed had lady and her daughter even been very agreeable she would still have been ashamed of the agitation they created but they were nothing there was no superiority of manner accomplishment or understanding lady had acquired the name of a charming woman because she had a smile and a civil answer for everybody miss with still less to say was so plain and so awkward that she would never have been in place but for her birth lady confessed that she had expected something better but yet it was an acquaintance worth having and when anne ventured to speak her opinion of them to mr he agreed to their being nothing in themselves but still maintained that as a as good company as those who would collect good company around them they had their value anne smiled and said my idea of good company mr is the company of clever well informed people who have a great deal of conversation that is what i call good company you are mistaken said he gently that is not good company that is the best good company requires only birth education and manners and with regard to education is not very nice birth and good manners are essential but a little learning is by no means a dangerous thing in good company on the contrary it will do very well my cousin anne shakes her head she is not satisfied she is fastidious my dear cousin sitting down by her you have a better right to be fastidious than almost any other woman i know but will it answer will it make you happy will it not be wiser to accept the society of these good ladies in place and enjoy all the advantages of the as far as possible you may depend upon persuasion it that they will move in the first set in bath this winter and as rank is rank your being known to be related to them will have its use in fixing your our family let me say in that degree of consideration which we must all wish for yes sighed anne we shall indeed be known to be related to them i then and not wishing to be answered she added i certainly do think there has been by far too much trouble taken to procure the acquaintance i suppose smiling i have more pride than any of you but i confess it does vex me that we should be so to have the relationship acknowledged which we may be very sure is a matter of perfect indifference to them pardon me my dear cousin you are unjust to your own claims in london perhaps in your present quiet style of living it might be as you say but in bath sir walter and his family will always be worth knowing always acceptable as acquaintance well said anne i certainly am proud too proud to enjoy a welcome which depends so entirely upon place i love your indignation said he it is very natural but here you are in bath and the object is to be established here with all the credit and dignity which ought to belong to sir walter you talk of being proud i am called proud i know and i shall not wish to believe myself otherwise for our pride if would have the same object i have no doubt though the kind may seem a little different in one point i am sure my dear cousin he continued speaking lower though there was no one else in the room in one point i am sure we must alike we must feel that every addition to your father s society among his equals or may be of use in his thoughts firom those who are beneath him persuasion he looked as he spoke to the seat which mrs clay had been lately occupying a sufficient explanation of what he particularly meant and though anne could not believe in their having the same sort of pride she was pleased with him for not liking mrs clay and her conscience admitted that his wishing to promote her father s getting great acquaintance was more than in the view of her while sir walter and elizabeth were pushing their good fortune in place anne was an acquaintance of a very different description she had called on her former and had heard from her of there being an old in bath who had the two strong claims on her attention of past kindness and present suffering miss now mrs smith had her kindness	26
in one of those periods of her life when it had been most valuable anne had gone unhappy to school for the loss of a mother whom she had dearly loved feeling her separation from home and suffering as a girl of fourteen of strong sensibility and not high spirits must suffer at such a time and miss three years older than herself but still from the want of near relations and a settled home remaining another year at school had been useful and good to her in a way which had considerably lessened her misery and could never be remembered with indifference miss had left school had married not long afterwards was said to have married a man of fortune and this was all that anne had known of her till now persuasion that their s account brought her s ward in a more decided but very different form she was a widow and poor her had been extravagant and at his death about two years before had left his affairs dreadfully involved she had had difficulties of every sort to contend with and in addition to these had been afflicted with a severe fever which finally settling in her legs had made her for the present a she had come to bath od that account and was now in lodgings dear the hot living in a very humble way unable even to herself the comfort of a servant and of course almost excluded from society their mutual friend answered for the satisfaction which a visit from would give mrs smith and anne therefore lost no time in going she mentioned nothing of what she had or what she intended at home it would excite no proper interest there she only consulted lady who entered thoroughly into her and was most happy to convey her as near to mrs smith s lodgings in buildings as anne chose to be taken the visit was paid their acquaintance re established interest in each other more than the first ten minutes liad its awkwardness and its emotion twelve s were gone since they had parted and each presented a somewhat different person from what the other had imagined twelve years had changed anne from the blooming silent of fifteen to the elegant httle woman of seven every beauty excepting bloom and with manners as right as they were invariably gentle i and twelve years had transformed the fine looking well grown miss in all the glow of health and confidence of superiority into a poor helpless widow receiving the visit of her persuasion former as a favour but all that was uncomfortable in the meeting had soon passed away and left only the interesting charm of remembering former and talking over old times anne found in mrs smith the good sense and agreeable manners which she had almost ventured to depend on and a disposition to converse and be cheerful beyond her expectation neither the of the past and she had lived very much in the world nor the of the present neither sickness nor sorrow seemed to have closed her heart or ruined her spirits in the course of a second visit she talked with great and anne s astonishment increased she could scarcely imagine a more cheerless situation in itself than mrs smith s she had been very fond of her husband she had buried him she had been used to it was gone she had no child to connect her with life and happiness again no relations to assist in the arrangement of perplexed af no health to make all the rest her were limited to a noisy parlour and a dark bedroom behind with no possibility of moving from one to the other without assistance which there was only one servant in the house to afford and she never quitted the house but to be conveyed into the warm bath yet in spite of all this anne had reason to believe that she had moments only of languor and depression to hours of occupation and enjoyment how could it be she watched observed reflected and finally determined that this was not a case of fortitude or of resignation only a spirit might be patient a strong understanding would supply resolution but here was something more here was that of mind that disposition to be comforted that power of turning readily from evil to good and of finding em persuasion which carried her out of herself which waa from nature alone it was the gift of heaven and anne viewed her friend as one of those instances in which by a merciful appointment it seems designed to almost every other want there had been a time mrs told her when her spirits had nearly failed she could not call herself an invalid now compared with her state on first reaching bath then she had indeed been a pitiable object for she had caught cold on the journey and had hardly taken possession of her lodgings before she was again confined to her bed and suffering under severe and constant pain and all this among strangers with the absolute necessity of having a regular nurse and at that moment particularly unfit to it any extraordinary expense s ie had however and could truly say that it had done her good l had increased her comforts by making her feet herself to be in good hands she had seen much of the world to expect sudden or disinterested attachment anywhere but her illness had proved to her that her landlady had a character to preserve and would not use her ill and she had been particularly fortunate in her nurse as a sister of her landlady a nurse by profession and who had always a home in that house when chanced be at liberty just in time to attend her and she said mrs smith besides nursing me most admirably has really proved an invaluable acquaintance as soon as	26
i could use my hands she taught me to knit which has been a great amusement and she put me in the way of making these little pin cushions and card which you always me so busy about and which supply me with the means of doing a little good to one or two very poor families in this she has a large acquaintance of course daily among who persuasion can afford to buy and she of my she always takes the right time for applying everybody s heart is open you know when they have recently escaped from severe pain or are recovering the blessing of health and nurse thoroughly understands when to speak she is a shrewd intelligent sensible woman hers is a line for seeing human nature and she has a fund of good sense and observation which as a companion make her infinitely superior to thousands of those who having only received the best education in the world know nothing worth attending to call it gossip if you will but when nurse has half an hour s leisure to bestow on me she is sure to have something to relate that is entertaining and profitable something that makes one know one s species better one likes to hear what is going on to be au as to the modes of being trifling and silly to me who live so much alone her conversation i assure you is a treat anne far from wishing to at the pleasure replied i can easily believe it women of that class have great opportunities and if they are intelligent may be well worth listening to such varieties of human nature as they are in the habit of witnessing and it is not merely in its follies that they are well read for they see it occasionally under every circumstance that can be most interesting or affecting what instances must pass before them of ardent disinterested attachment of heroism fortitude patience resignation of all the and all the sacrifices that us most a sick chamber may often furnish the worth of volumes yes said mrs smith more sometimes it may though i fear its lessons are not often in the elevated style you describe here and there human nature may be great in times of trial but generally persuasion is speaking it is its ss and its strength that appears in a chamber it is and impatience rather than generosity and fortitude that one hears of there is m little friendship in the world and speaking low and there are many who forget to think seriously till it is almost too late anne saw the misery of such feelings the husband had not been what he ought and the wife had been led among that part of mankind which made her think worse of the world than she hoped it deserved it was but a passing emotion however with mrs smith she shook it off and soon added in a different tone i do not suppose the situation my friend mrs is in at present will furnish much either to interest or me she is only nursing of buildings a mere pretty silly expensive fashionable woman i believe and of course will have nothing to but of lace and i mean to make my profit of mrs she has plenty of money and i intend she shall buy all the high things i have in hand now anne had called several times on her friend before the existence of such a person was known in place at last it became necessary to speak of her sir elizabeth and mrs clay returned one morning from place with a sudden from lady for the same evening and anne already engaged to spend that evening in buildings she was not sorry for the excuse they were only asked she was sure because lady being kept at home by a bad cold was glad to make use of the relationship which had been so pressed on her and she on her own account with great alacrity she was engaged to spend the evening with an old they were not much interested relative to anne but still there were none enough asked to make it understood this old and elizabeth was and who ib mi buildings i sir walter buildings said he anne to be visiting in mrs smith a widow mrs smith husband one of the five thousand mr whose names are to be met with everywhere and what ii her attraction that she is old and upon my word anne you have the most taste everything that other people low company paltry rooms foul air disgusting associations are inviting to you but surely you may put old lady till to morrow she is not ao near her end i presume but that she may e to see another day what is her age forty no sir she is not one and thirty but i do not think i can put off my engagement because only evening for some time which will at one and myself she goes into the warm bath tu ow and for the rest of the week you know but what does lady think of this ance asked elizabeth she sees nothing to blame in it replied anne on the contrary she it and has generally taken me when i have called on mrs smith buildings must have been rather surprised by the appearance of a carriage drawn up near its pavement observed sir walter sir henry s widow indeed has no honours to distinguish her arms but still it is a and no doubt is well known to convey a miss a widow mrs smith lodging in buildings a poor widow barely able to live between thirty and forty a mere m an every day mrs smith of all people and all persuasion l l names in the world to be the chosen friend of miss anne and	26
to be preferred by her to her own family connections among the nobility of england and ireland mrs smith i such a name mrs clay who had been present while all this passed now thought it advisable to leave the room and anne could have said much and did long to say a little in defence of her friend s not very claims to theirs but her sense of personal respect to her father prevented her she made no reply she left it to himself to recollect that mrs smith was not the only widow in bath between thirty and forty with to live on and no of dignity anne kept her appointment the others kept theirs and of she heard the next morning that they had had a delightful evening she bad been the only one of the set absent for sir walter and elizabeth had not only been quite at her s service themselves but had actually been happy to be employed by her in collecting others and had been at the trouble of inviting both lady and mr and mr had a point of leaving colonel early and lady fresh arranged all her evening engagements in order to wait on her anne had the whole history of all that such an evening could supply from lady to her its greatest interest must be in having been very much talked of between her friend and mr in having been wished for regretted and at the same time honoured for staying away in such a cause her kind compassionate visits to this old sick and reduced seemed to have quite delighted mr he thought her a most extraordinary young woman in her temper manners mind a model of female excellence he meet even lady in a discussion of her merits and anne could not be given to understand so much by her friend persuasion could not know herself to be so highly by i man without many of those agreeable which her friend meant to create lady waa dow perfectly decided i opinion of mr she waa as much convinced ot meaning to gain anne in time as of his deserving her and was beginning to calculate the number of weeks which would free him from all the remaining of and leave him at liberty to his most open powers of pleasing she would not speak to anne with half the she felt od the subject she would venture on little more than hints of what might be hereafter of a possible on his bide of the of the alliance supposing such an attachment to be real ind returned heard her and made no violent exclamations she smiled blushed and gently shook her head i am no match maker as you well know lady being much too well aware of uncertainty of all human events and calculations only mean that if mr should some time pay his addresses to you and if you should be to accept him i think there would be every possibility of your being happy together a moat suitable ci everybody consider it but think it be a very happy one mr is an agreeable man and n many respects i think highly of him said anne but we should not suit lady let this pass and only said it i own that to be able to regard you as the mistress of the future lady u forward and see you occupying your dear mother place succeeding to all her rights and ail her as well as to all her virtues would be the possible to me you are your mother iq persuasion in countenance and disposition and if i might be allowed to fancy you such as she was in situation and name and home and blessing in the same spot and only superior to her in being more highly my dearest anne it would give me more delight than is often felt at my time of life anne was obliged to turn away to rise to to a distant table and leaning there in pretended employment try to subdue the feelings this picture excited for a few moments her imagination and her heart were the idea of becoming what her mother had been of having the precious name of lady first revived in herself of being restored to calling it her home again her home for ever was a charm which she could not immediately resist lady said not another word willing to leave the matter to its own operation and believing that could mr at that moment with propriety have spoken for himself she believed in short what anne did not believe the same image of mr speaking for himself brought anne to composure again the charm of and of lady au faded away she never could accept him and it was not only that her feelings were still adverse to any man save one j her judgment on a serious consideration of the possibilities of such a case was against mr though they had now been acquainted a month she could not be satisfied that she really knew his character that he was a sensible man an agreeable that he talked well professed good opinions seemed to judge properly and as a man of principle tliis was all clear enough he knew what was light nor could she fix on any one article of moral duly evidently but yet she would have been afraid t r for his conduct she the past if the pi the r former associates the allusions to and pursuits suggested suspicions not favourable of what he had been she saw that there had bad habits that sunday travelling had been a common thing that there had been a period of his life and probably not a short one when he had at careless on all matters and though he might now think very differently who could answer for the true of a clever grown old	26
deal to add in the first place i had a note from mrs yesterday offering to convey anything to you i a very kind friendly note indeed addressed to me just as it ought i shall therefore be able to make my letter as long as i like the admiral does not seem very ill and i sincerely hope bath will do him all the good he w i shall be truly glad to have them back again our cannot spare such a pleasant family but now persuasion for i have something to communicate that will astonish you not a little she and the came on tuesday very safely and in the evening we went to ask her how she did when we were rather surprised not to find captain of the party for he had been invited as well as the and what do you think was the reason neither more nor less than his being in love with and not choosing to venture to till he had had an answer from mr for it was all settled between him and her before she came away and he had written to her ther by captain true upon my honour are not you astonished i shall be surprised at least if yoa ever received a hint of it for i never did mrs solemnly that she knew nothing of the matter we are all very well pleased however for though it is not equal to her marrying captain it is infinitely better than charles ha and mr has written his consent and captain is expected to day mrs says her husband feels a good deal on his poor sister s account but however is a great favourite with both indeed mrs and i quite agree that we love her the better for having nursed her charles wonders what captain will say but if you remember i never thought him attached to i never could see anything of it and this is the end you see of captain ben s being supposed to be an admirer of yours how charles could take such a thing into his head was always incomprehensible to me i hope he will be more agreeable now certainly not a great match for but a million times better than marrying among the mary need not have feared her sister s being in any degree prepared for the news she had never in her life been more astonished captain and persuasion a it was almost too wonderful for belief and it was with the greatest effort that she remain in the room an air of calmness and answer the common questions of moment happily for her they were not many sir walter wanted to know whether the travelled with four horses and whether they were likely to be situated in such a part of bath as it might suit miss and himself to visit in but had little curiosity beyond how h mary i said elizabeth and without wailing for an answer and pray what brings the to bath they come on the admiral s account he is thought to be and said sir walter poor old gentleman they any acquaintance asked elizabeth i do not know but i can hardly suppose that at admiral s time of life and in his profession he should not have many in such a place s i suspect said sir walter coolly that admiral will be best known in bath as the of hall elizabeth may we venture to present him and his wife in place oh no i think not situated as we are with lady cousins we ought to be very careful not to her acquaintance she might not approve if we were not related it would not signify j s she would feel scrupulous as to any we had better leave the t there are several odd looking men t here who i am old are sailors the with them sir walter and elizabeth s share of persuasion interest in the letter when mrs clay had paid her tribute of more decent attention in an after mrs charles and her fine little boys anne was at liberty in her own room she tried to comprehend it well might charles wonder how captain would feel perhaps he had quitted the field had given up had ceased to love had found he did not love her she could not endure the idea of treachery or levity or anything akin to ill usage between him and his friend she could not endure that such a friendship as theirs should be severed captain and the high spirited joyous talking and the dejected thinking feeling reading captain seemed each of them everything that would not suit the other their minds most where could have been the attraction the answer soon presented itself it had been in situation they had been thrown together several weeks they had living in the same small family party since s coming away they must have been depending almost entirely on each other and just recovering from illness had been in an interesting state and captain was not that was a point which anne had not been able to avoid suspecting before and instead of drawing the same conclusion as mary from the present course of events they served only to confirm the idea of his having felt some dawning of tenderness toward herself she did not mean however to derive much more from it to gratify her vanity than mary might have allowed she was persuaded that any tolerably pleasing young woman who had listened and seemed to feel for him would have received the same compliment he had an heart he must love somebody she saw no against their being happy had fine naval to begin with and they would grow more alike he would gain and she would learn to be an for scott and lord nay that was probably already of	26
course they had fallen in love over poetry the idea of turned into a person of literary taste and sentimental was amusing but she had no doubt of its being so the day at the fail from the might influence her health her her courage her character to the end of her life as thoroughly as it appeared to have influenced her fate the conclusion of the whole was that if the woman who been sensible of captain s merits could be allowed to prefer another man there was nothing in the engagement to excite lasting wonder and if captain lost no friend by it certainly nothing to be regretted no it was not regret which made anne s heart beat in spite of herself and brought the colour into her cheeks when she thought of captain and free she had some feelings which she was ashamed to investigate they were too much like joy senseless joy she longed to see the but when the meeting took place it was evident that no rumour of the news had yet reached them the visit of ceremony was paid and returned and was mentioned and captain too without even half a smile the had placed themselves in lodgings in gay street perfectly to sir walter s satisfaction he was not at all ashamed of the acquaintance and did in fact think and talk a great deal more about the admiral than the admiral ever thought or talked about him the knew quite as many people in bath as persuasion they wished for and considered their with the as a mere matter of form and not in the least likely to afford them any pleasure they brought with them their country habit of being always together he was ordered to walk to keep ow the and mn seemed to go shares with him in and to walk for her life to do him good anne saw them wherever she went lady took her out in her carriage almost every morning and she never to think of them and never failed to see them knowing their feelings as she did it was a most attractive picture of happiness to her she always watched them as long as she could delighted to fancy she understood what they might be talking of as they walked along in happy or equally delighted to see the admiral s hearty shake of the hand when he encountered an old friend and observe their eagerness of conversation when occasionally forming into a little knot of the navy mn looking as intelligent and keen as any of the officers around her anne was too much engaged with lady to be often walking herself but it so happened that one morning about a week or ten days after the arrival it suited her best to leave her friend or her friend s carriage in the lower part of the town and return alone to place and in walking up street she had the good fortune to meet with the admiral he was standing by himself at a window with his hands behind him in earnest contemplation of some print and she not only might have passed him unseen but was obliged to touch as well as address him before she could catch his notice when he did perceive and acknowledge her however it was done with all his usual frankness and good humour ha is it you thank you thank you this is treating me like a friend here i am you see staring f at a picture i can never get by this shop without stopping what a thing here is by way of a boat do look at it did you ever see the like i what queer your line painters must be to think that anybody would venture their in such a old as that and yet here are two stuck up in it at their ease and looking about them at the rocks and as if they were not to be upset the next moment which they certainly must be i wonder where that boat was built laughing heartily i would not venture over a in il well turning away now where are you bound can i go anywhere for you or with you i be of any use none i thank you unless you will give me the pleasure of your company the little way our road together i am going home that i will with all my heart and farther too yes yea we will have a snug walk together and i have something to tell you as we go along there take my arm j that a right i do not feel comfortable if i have not woman there lord a boat it is taking a last look at the picture as they began to be in motion did you say that you had something to tell me yes i have presently but here comes a captain i shall only say how d ye do as we however i shall not stop how d ye do j to anybody with me but my wife she poor is tied by the leg she has a on of her heels as large aa a three shilling piece if you look across the street you will see admiral brand coming down and his brother shabby fellows both of them i i am glad they are not on this of the way cannot bear them they played me a trick once got away some of my l st men i persuasion el you the whole story another i old sir drew and his look he us he his hand to you j he c you for my wife ah the peace has for that poor old sir how d you like bath it suits us very i we are always meeting with some old friend or the streets of them every plenty of chat and then we get	26
away them al and shut ourselves into our lodgings and chairs and are aa snug as if we were at ay d as we used to be even at north and we do not like our lodgings here the worse i c you for putting us in mind of those we first had at nor the wind blows through one of the c boards just in the same way when they were got a little farther anne i for what he had to communicate she hoped when clear of street to have her ly gratified but she was still obliged to wait for the admiral had made up his mind not to begin till they had gained the greater space and of she was not really mrs she must let him have h own way as soon aa they were fairly ascending he began well now you shall hear something that will t you but first of all you must tell me the of tlie young lady am going to talk about young lady you know that we have all been so c for the that all this has b happening to her christian name i always her christian name anne had been ashamed to appear to comprehend soon as she really did but now could safely ni the name of ay ay miss that is the persuasion i s i wish young ladies had not such a of fine christian names i should never be out if they were all or something of that sort well miss we all thought you know was to many he was her week after week the only wander was what they could be waiting for till the business at came then indeed it was clear enough that they must wait till her was set to right but even then there was something odd in their way of going od instead of staying at he went off to and then he went off to see edward when we came back from he was gone down to edward s and there he has been ever since we have seen nothing of him since november even could not understand it but now the matter has taken the strangest turn of all for this young lady this same miss instead of being to marry is to marry james you know james a little am a little s with captain well she is to marry him e married already for i do no nay most likely they i know what they should it for i thought captain a very pleasing young man said anne and i understand that he bears an excellent character oh yes yes there is not a word to be said against james he is only a it is true made last summer and these are bad times for getting on but he has not another f that i know of ad excellent good hearted fellow i assure you a very active zealous officer too which is more you would think for perhaps for that soft sort of manner does not do him justice indeed you are mistaken there sir i i persuasion want of from captain s manners i them particularly pleasing and i will answer for it they would generally please well well ladies are the best judges but james is rather too piano for me and though very likely it is all our partiality and i cannot help thinking s manners better than his there is something about more to our taste anne was caught she had only meant to oppose the too common idea of spirit and gentleness with each other not at all to represent captain s manners as the very best that could possibly be and after a little hesitation she was beginning to say i was not entering into any comparison of the two friends but the admiral interrupted her with and the thing is certainly true it is not a mere bit of gossip we have it from himself his sister had a letter from him yesterday in he tells us of it and he had just had it in a letter from written upon the spot from i they are all at this was an opportunity which anne could not resist she said therefore i hope admiral i hope there is nothing in the style of captain s letter to make you and mrs particularly uneasy it did certainly seem last autumn as if there were an attachment between him and but i hope it may be understood to have worn out on each side equally and without violence i hope his letter does not breathe the spirit of an ill used man not at all not at all there is not an oath or a murmur from beginning to end anne looked down to hide her smile no no is not a man to and complain he has too much spirit for that if the girl persuasion likes another man better it is very c she should have certainly but what i mean is that i hope there ib nothing in captain s manner of writing to make you he thinks himself ill used by his friend which might appear you know without its being absolutely said i should be very sorry thai a friendship as has between him and captain should be destroyed or even wounded by a circumstance of this sort yea yea i understand you but there is nothing at all of that nature in the letter he does not give the least fling at does not so much as say i wonder at it i have a reason of own for wondering at it no you would not guess his way of writing that he had ever thought of this miss what s her name for himself he very handsomely hopes they will be happy together and there is nothing very in that i think anne did	26
not receive the perfect conviction which the admiral meant to convey but it would have been useless to press the farther she therefore satisfied herself with common place remarks or quiet attention and the admiral had it all his own way poor he at last now he must begin all over again with somebody else i think we must get to bath must write and beg him to come to bath here are pretty girls enough i am sure it would be of no use to go to again for that other miss i is by her cousin the young do not you think miss we had try to get him to bath persuasion chapter j while admiral was taking tim with anne and expressing wish oi get ting captain to bath was already on his way thither mrs had written he was arrived and the e anne walked out she saw him mr was attending his two cousins and m clay they were in street it began to not much but enough to make shelter desirable ii and quite enough to make it very desirable fi is to have the advantage of being home in lady s carriage which was tea waiting at a little distance she anne and mrs therefore turned into g while mr to lady to request her hi soon joined them successful of course lad would be most happy to take them and would call for them in a few minutes her s carriage was a and did i hold more than four with any comfort miss was with her mother consequently it was not able to expect accommodation for all the three place ladies there could he no doubt i whoever suffered inconvenience she mm suffer but it occupied a little time to settle th point of civility between the other t a mere trifle and anne was most sincere in a walk with mr but the rain was also a trifle to mrs clay she would hardly allow it ei drop at all and her boots were so thick much c than miss anne s and in short her civility her quite as anxious to be left to walk with mr bs anne could he and it was discussed between persuasion r with so polite and so that ihe were obliged to settle it for them miss maintaining that mrs clay had a little cold already and mr deciding on appeal that his cousin anne s were rather die it was fixed accordingly that mrs clay should be of the party in the carriage and they had just reached s point when anne as she near the window most decidedly and distinctly captain walking down the street her start was perceptible only to herself but instantly felt that she was the greatest in the world the most unaccountable and absurd for a few minutes she saw nothing before her it was all she was lost and when she had back her senses she found the others still waiting for the carriage and mi always obliging just setting off for union street on a commission of mrs clay s she now felt a great inclination to go to the outer door j she wanted to see if it rained why was she to suspect herself of another motive captain must be out of sight she left her seat she would go one half of her should not be always so much wiser than the other half or always suspecting the other of being worse than it was she would see if it rained she was sent back in a moment by the entrance of captain himself among a party of gentlemen and ladies evidently his acquaintance and whom he must have joined a little street he was more obviously struck and confused by the sight of her than she had ever observed e he looked quite red for the first time since their renewed lance she felt that she was betraying the least sensibility of the two she had the advantage of him in the preparation of the last few moments all the overpowering blinding bewildering i surprise were over with her still however had enough to feel it was agitation a between delight and he spoke to her and then turned away the character of his manner was embarrassment she could not have called it either cold or friendly or anything w certainly as embarrassed after a short interval however he came towards her and spoke again mutual inquiries on common subjects passed neither of them probably much the for what they heard and anne continuing fully of his being less at ease than formerly they had by dint of being bo very much together got to speak to each other with a considerable portion of apparent and calmness but he could not do it now time h changed him or h id changed him there v consciousness of some sort or other he very well not as if he had been suffering in health spirits and he talked of of the nay even of and had even a momentary of his own arch significance as he named her but it was captain not comfortable not easy n able to that he was il did not surprise but it grieved anne to that elizabeth would not know him she saw that b saw elizabeth that elizabeth saw him that there complete internal recognition on each side she i convinced that he was ready to be acknowledged as acquaintance expecting it and she had the i seeing her sister turn away with lady s carriage for which n growing very impatient now drew up j the servant ca in to announce it to rain again and al must make all the little crowd in the shop that lady was calling to convey miss persuasion l l at last miss and her friend but by the servant for there was no	26
cousin returned were walking and captain went worth watching them turned again to anne and by manner rather than words was offering his services to her i am much obliged to you was her answer but i am not going with them the would not accommodate bo many i walk i prefer walking oh very nothing that i regard after moment s pause he said though i came only yesterday i have equipped myself properly for bath already you see pointing to a new umbrella i wish you would make it are determined to walk though i think it would be more prudent to let me you a chair she was very much obliged to him but declined it all repeating her conviction that the rain would come to nothing at present and adding i am only waiting for mr he will be here in a moment i am sure had hardly spoken the words when mr walked in captain recollected him perfectly there was no difference between him and the man who had stood on the steps at admiring anne as she passed except in the air and look and manner of the privileged relation and friend he came in with eagerness appeared to see and think only of her for his stay was grieved to have kept her waiting and anxious to get her away without further low of time and before the rain increased and in another moment they walked off together her arm under his a gentle and embarrassed glance and a good morning to you being all that she had time for as passed away as soon as they were out of sight the of captain s party began talking of i fancy persuasion mr does dislike his oh no that is clear enough one will happen there he is always with them half u in the i believe what a very good yes and who dined vith h once at the says he is the most agreeable n she ever was in company with she is pretty i think very when one comes to look at her it is not the to say bo but i confess i admire her more than i anne but the men too delicate oh so do i and so do i all wild alter mis anne would have been particularly obliged to cousin if he would have walked by her all the to place without saying a word she i never found it so to listen to him nothing could exceed his solicitude and care and his subjects were principally such as were to always interesting praise warm just and of lady and highly rational mrs clay but just now she could think only of c tain she could not understand his feelings whether he were really suffering much hon disappointment or not and till that point were she could not be quite herself she hoped to be wise and reasonable in alas alas she must confess to herself that she was another might be only pas ng through but he should be come to stay in that case so liable as every body was to meet every body in bath lady would ia all see him somewhere would she recollect him how would it all be she had already been obliged to tell lady that was to marry captain it had coat her something to encounter lady s surprise and now if she were by any chance to be into company with captain her imperfect knowledge of the matter might add another shade of prejudice against him the following morning anne was out with her friend and for the first hour in an incessant and fearful sort of watch for him in vain but at last in down street she him on the right hand pavement at such a distance as to have him in view the greater part of the street there were many other men about him many groups walking the same way but there was no him she looked instinctively at lady but not from any mad idea of her him so soon as she did herself no it was not to be supposed that lady would perceive him till they were nearly opposite she looked at her however from time to time anxiously and when the moment approached which must point him out though not daring to look again for her own countenance she knew was unfit to be seen she was yet perfectly conscious of lady s eyes being turned in the direction for of her being in short observing him she could thoroughly comprehend the sort of fascination he must possess over lady s mind the it must be for her to withdraw her eyes the astonishment she must be feeling that right or nine years should have passed over n foreign and in active service too e personal l persuasion at last lady drew back her head how would she speak of him you will wonder said she what has been fixing my eye so long but i was looking after some which lady and mrs were telling me of last night they described the window curtains of one of the houses on this of the way and this part of the street as being the and best hung of any in bath but could not recollect the exact number and i have been tr ring to find out which it could be but i confess i can see no curtains that answer their description anne sighed and blushed and smiled in pity and disdain either at her friend or herself the part which provoked her most was that in all this waste of foresight and caution she should have lost the right moment for seeing whether he saw them a day or two passed without producing anything the theatre or the rooms where he was most likely to be were not fashionable enough for the whose evening	26
amusements were solely in the elegant stupidity of private parties in which they were getting more and more engaged and anne wearied of such a state of sick of knowing nothing and herself stronger because her strength was not tried was quite impatient for the conceit evening it was a concert for the benefit of a person by lady of course they must attend it was really expected to be a good one and captain was very fond of music if she could only have a few minutes conversation with him again she she should be satisfied and as to the power of addressing him she felt all over courage if the opportunity occurred elizabeth had turned from him lady overlooked him her nerves were strengthened by these circumstances she felt that she owed him attention persuasion she had once partly promised mrs smith to spend the evening with her but in a short hurried call she excused herself and put it off with the more decided promise of a longer visit on the morrow mrs smith gave a most d ed acquiescence by all means said she only tell me all about it when you do come who is your anne named them all mrs smith made no reply but when she was leaving her said and with an half serious half arch well i heartily wish your concert may answer and do not fail me lo morrow if you can come for i begin to have a that i may not have many more visits from you anne was startled and confused but after standing in a moment s suspense was obliged and not sorry to be obliged to hurry away sir walter his two daughters and clay were the earliest of all their party at the rooms in the evening and as lady must be waited for they took their station by one of the fires in the room but hardly were they so settled when the opened again and captain walked in alone anne was the nearest to him and making yet a little advance she instantly spoke he was preparing only to how and pass on but her gentle how do you do brought him out of the straight line to stand near her and make in return in spite of the formidable and sister in the back ground their being in the back ground was a to anne she knew nothing of their looks and felt equal to which she believed right to be done l persuasion while ihey were speaking a whispering between h father and elizabeth caught her ear she d a distinguish but she must guess the subject and i captain s making a distant bow she con that her father had judged so well as to gi him that simple acknowledgment of acquaintance ai she was just in time by a glance to see a from herself this and reluctant and was yet better nothing and her improved after talking however of the weather and the concert their conversation began to flag and i little was said at last that she was expecting every moment but he did not he seemed in no hun to leave her and with renewed spirit little smile a little glow he i have hardly seen you since our day s i am afraid you must have suffered from the shock and the more from its not overpowering you at tf she assured him that had not it was a frightful hour said he a day and he passed his hand across his eyes as if tl remembrance were still too painful but in a half smiling again added the day has produced son effects however has had some consequences whit must be considered as the very reverse of when you had the presence of mind to suggest tl would he the person to fetch surgeon you could have little idea of his being event one of those most concerned in her recovery certainly i could have none but it appears i should hope it would he a very happy match the arc on both sides good principles and good temper yes said he looking not exactly forward i there i think ends the resemblance with all i soul i wish them happy aod rejoice over every id favour of it they have no difficulties to contend with at home no no caprice no the are like most and kindly only anxious with true parental hearts to promote their daughter s comfort all this is much very in favour of their happiness more than perhaps he stopped a sudden recollection seemed to occur and to give him some that emotion which was anne s cheeks and using her eyes on the ground after clearing his throat however he proceeded thus i confess that i do think there is a too great a and in a point no essential than i regard mu as a very amiable sweet tempered girl and not deficient in understanding but is something more he is a clever a reading man and i confess that i do consider his himself to her with some surprise had it been the effect of gratitude had he learnt to love her because he believed her to be preferring him it would have been another thing but i have no reason to it go it seems on the contrary to have been a perfectly spontaneous feeling on his side and this surprises me a man like him in his situation with a heart pierced wounded almost broken f was a very su creature and his attachment to her was indeed attachment a man does not recover from such a devotion of the heart to such a woman he ought not he does not either from the consciousness that his friend had recovered or from some other consciousness he went no and anne who in of the a voice in which the	26
latter part had been uttered and in spite of all the various noises of the room the persuasion almost ceaseless of the door and ceaseless of persons walking through had every word was struck gratified confused and beginning to breathe very quick and feel an hundred things in a moment it was impossible for her to enter on such a subject and yet after a pause feeling the necessity of and not the smallest wish for a total change she only so far as to say you were a good while at i think about a fortnight i could not leave it till s doing well was quite ascertained i had too deeply concerned in the mischief to be soon at peace it had been my doing solely mine she would not have been obstinate if i had not been weak the country round is very fine i walked and rode a great deal and the more i saw the more i found to admire i should very much like to see again said anne indeed i should not have supposed that you could have found anything in to inspire such a feeling the horror and distress you were involved in the stretch of mind the wear of spirits i should have thought your last impressions of must have been strong disgust the last few hours were certainly very painful replied anne but when pain is over the remembrance of it often becomes a pleasure one does not love a place the less for having suffered in it unless it has been all suffering nothing but suffering which was by no means the case at we were only in anxiety and distress during the last two hours and previously there had been a great deal of enjoyment so much novelty and beauty i have travelled so that every fresh place would be interesting to me but there is real beauty at and in short with a blush at some my of the place are very agreeable aa she ceased the entrance door opened and the very party appeared for whom they were waiting lady lady was the rejoicing sound and with all the eagerness with elegance sir and his two ladies stepped forward ro meet her lady and escorted by mr and colonel who had happened to arrive nearly at the same instant advanced into the room the others joined them and it was a group in which anne found herself also included she was divided from captain their interesting almost too interesting must be broken up for a time but slight was the penance compared with the happiness which brought it on she h d learnt in the last ten minutes more of his feelings towards more of all his feelings than dared to think of and she gave herself up to the demands of the party to needful of the moment with though agitated sensations she was in good humour with all she had received ideas which disposed her to be courteous and kind to all and to pity every one as being less happy than the delightful emotions were a little subdued when on stepping back from the group to be joined again by captain she saw that he was gone she was just in time to see him turn into the concert room he was gone he had she a moment s regret but they should meet again ho would look for her he would her out long before the evening were over and at present perhaps it was as well to he asunder she was in need of a little interval for upon lady s appearance soon afterwards the persuasion whole party was collected and all that remained wm to themselves and proceed into the room and be of all the consequence in their power draw as many eyes excite as many whispers and disturb as many people as they could very very happy were both elizabeth and anne as they walked in elizabeth arm in arm with miss and looking on the broad back of the before her had nothing to wish for which did not seem within her reach and anne but it would be an insult to the nature of anne s felicity to draw any comparison between it and her sister s the origin of one all selfish vanity of the other all generous attachment anne saw nothing thought nothing of the brilliancy of the room her happiness was from within her eyes were bright and her cheeks glowed but she knew nothing about it she was thinking only of the last half hour and as they passed to their seats her mind took a hasty range over it his choice of subjects his expressions and still more his manner and look had been such as she could see in only one light his opinion of s inferiority an opinion which he had seemed to give his wonder at captain his feelings as to a first strong attachment sentences begun which he could not finish his half averted eyes and more than half expressive glance all all declared that he had a heart returning to her at least that anger resentment were no more and that they were succeeded not merely by friendship and regard but by the tenderness of the past yes some share of the tenderness of the past she could not contemplate the change as less he must love her these were thoughts with their attendant visions which occupied and hurried her too much to leave hei any power of o persuasion any power of observation and she passed along the room without having a glimpse of him without even trying to discern when their places were on and they were all properly arranged she looked round to see if he should happen to be in the same part of the room but he was not her eye could not reach him and tlie concert being	26
ask after her she never i know and you must have seen her she must have been in your own circle for as you went with lady you were in the seats of grandeur round the of course no that was what i dreaded it would have been very unpleasant to me in every respect but happily lady always chooses to be farther off and we were exceedingly well placed that is for hearing i must not say for seeing because i appear to have seen very little oh you saw enough for your own amusement i can understand there is a sort of domestic enjoyment to be known even in a crowd and this you had you were a large party in yourselves and you wanted nothing beyond but i ought to have looked about me more said anne conscious while she spoke that there had in fact been no want of looking about that the object only had been deficient no no you were better employed you need not tell me that you had a pleasant evening i see it in your eye i perfectly see how the hours passed that you had always something agreeable to listen to in the intervals of the concert it was conversation anne half smiled and said do you see that in my eye yes i do your countenance me that you were in company last night with the person whom you think the most agreeable in the world the persuasion who interests you at this present time more than all the rest of the world put together a blush anne a she could say nothing and such being the case continued mrs smith after a short i hope you believe that i do know how to value your kindness in coming to me this morning it is really very good of you to come and with me when you must have so many pleasanter demands anne heard nothing of this she was still in the and confusion excited by her friend s penetration unable to imagine how any report of captain could have reached her after another short silence pray said mrs smith is mr aware of your acquaintance with me i does he know that i am in bath mr repeated anne looking up a moment s reflection showed her the mistake she had been under she caught it and recovering courage with the feeling of safety soon added more are you ac with mr i have been a good deal acquainted with him replied mrs smith gravely but it seems worn out now it is a great while since we met i was not at all aware of this you never mentioned it before had known it i would have had the pleasure of talking to liim about you to confess the truth said mrs smith assuming her usual air of cheerfulness that is exactly the pleasure i want you to have i want you to talk about me lo mr i want your interest with him he can be of essential service to me and if you would have the goodness my dear to make it an object to yourself of course it is done persuasion i should be extremely happy i hope you cannot doubt my to be of even the slightest use to replied anne but i suspect that you are considering me as having a higher claim on mr a greater right to influence him than is really the case i am sure you have somehow or other such a notion you must consider me only as mr s relation if in that light there is an which you suppose his cousin might fairly ask of him i beg you would not hesitate to employ me mrs smith gave her a penetrating glance and then smiling said i have been a premature i perceive i beg your pardon i ought to have waited for official information but now my dear miss as an old friend do give me a hint as to when i may speak next week to be sure by next week i may be allowed to think it all settled and build my own selfish schemes on mr s good fortune no replied anne nor next week nor next nor next i assure you that nothing of the sort you are thinking of will be any week i am not going to marry mr i should like to know why you imagine i am mrs smith looked at her again looked earnestly smiled shook her head and exclaimed now how i do wish i understood you how i do wish i knew what you were at i have a great idea that you do not design to be cruel when the right moment comes till it does come you know we women never mean to have anybody it is a thing of course among us that every man is refused till he offers but why should you be cruel let me plead for my present friend i cannot call him but for my former friend where can you look for a more suitable match where could you expect a more gentle persuasion agreeable man let me recommend mr i am sure you hear nothing but good of him from colonel and who can know him better than colonel my dear smith mr a wife has not been dead much above half a year he ought not to be to be paying hia addresses to any one oh if these are your only objections cried mrs smith mr ia safe and i shall give myself no more trouble about him not forget me when you are married that s all let him know me to be a friend of and then he will think little of the trouble required which it is very natural for him now with so many and engagements of his own to and get	26
is black at heart hollow and black anne s astonished air and exclamation of wonder made her pause and in a calmer manner she added my expressions you you must allow for an injured angry woman but i will try to command myself i will not abuse him i will only tell what i have found him facts shall speak he was the intimate friend of my dear husband who trusted and loved him and thought him as good as himself the intimacy had been formed before our marriage i found them most intimate friends and i too became excessively pleased with mr and entertained the highest opinion of him at nineteen you know one does not think very seriously but mr appeared to me quite as good as others and much more agreeable persuasion s others and we were almost always principally in town in very good style hen the inferior in circumstances he was then poor one he had chambers in the temple and it as much as he could do to support appearance gentleman he had always a home with us when er he chose it he was always welcome he was like brother my poor charles who had the finest most spirit in the world would have divided his last ing with him i know that his purse was open to i know tliat he often assisted this must have been about that very period of mr s life said anne which has always excited my particular curiosity it must have been about the same that he became known to my father and sister i never knew him myself i only heard of him there was a something in then with regard y and sister and afterwards in the of his marriage which i never could re ie with present times it seemed to announce a son of man i know it all i know it all cried mrs smith he had been introduced to sir walter and your sister before i was acquainted with him but i heard him of for ever know he was invited and encouraged and i know he did not choose go i can satisfy you perhaps on points which you would lie expect j and as to his marriage i knew all about at the i was to all the and was the friend to whom he confided his hopes and plans and though i did not know his wife previously her inferior in society indeed rendered that impossible yet i knew her all her life afterwards or at least till within the last two years of her life and can answer any question you wish to put nay said anne i liave no particular persuasion to make about her i have rs understood they were not a happy couple but i should like to know why at that time of his life he should slight my father s acquaintance as he did my father was certainly disposed to take very kind and proper notice of him why did mr draw back mr replied mrs smith at that period of his life had one object in view to make his fortune and by a rather quicker process than the law he was determined to make it by marriage he was determined at least not to mar it by an marriage and i know it was his belief whether or not of course i cannot decide that your father and sister in their and invitations were a match between the heir and the young lady and it was impossible that such a match should have answered his ideas of wealth and independence that was his motive for drawing back i can assure you he told me the whole he had no with me it was curious that having just left you behind me in bath my first and principal acquaintance on marrying should be your cousin and that through him i should be continually hearing of your father and sister he described one miss and i thought very affectionately of the other perhaps cried anne by a sudden idea you sometimes spoke of me to mr to be sure i did very often i used to boast of my own anne and for your being a very different creature from she checked herself just in time this accounts for something which mr said last night cried anne this explains it i found he had been used to hear of me i could not comprehend how what wild one forms where dear self is concerned how sure to be mistaken i r but i beg your pardon i have interrupted you mr married completely for money the circumstance probably which first opened your eyes to his character mrs smith hesitated a little here oh those things are too common when one lives the world a man or woman s marrying for money is too common to strike one as it ought i was very young and associated only with the young and we were a gay set without any strict rules of conduct we lived for enjoyment i think differently now time sickness and sorrow have given me other notions hut at that period i must own i saw nothing in what mr was doing to do the best for himself passed as a duty but was not she a very low woman yes which objected to but he would not regard money money was all that he wanted her father was a her grandfather had been a butcher but that was all nothing she was a line woman had had a decent education was brought forward by some cousins thrown by chance into mr s company and fell in love with him and not a difficulty or a scruple was there on his side with respect to her birth all his caution was spent in being secured of the real amount of her fortune	26
persuasion e will not in the least account for the he made a reconciliation with ray father that was all my coming to bath i found them on the most terms when i arrived i know you did i know it all perfectly but indeed mrs smith we must not expect to get i information in such a line or opinions ch are to through the hands of so many to be by in one and ance in another a hardly have much truth left only give me a hearing you will soon be able p judge of the general credit due by listening to some which you can yourself immediately con dr confirm nobody that you were his he had seen you indeed before he e to bath and admired you but without knowing be you so says my historian at least is this did he see you last summer or autumn down in the west to use her own words without il to be you he certainly did so far it is very true at i happened to be at well continued mrs smith triumphantly grant j friend the credit due to the establishment of the it point asserted he saw you then at and d you well as to be pleased to meet you again in place as miss anne d from that moment i have no doubt had a double s visits there but there was another and i earlier which i will now explain if there is story which you know to be false or stop me my account states that your s friend the lady now staying with you whom i heard you mention came to bath with miss ind sir walter as long ago as september in t when they came themselves and has been persuasion staying there ever since that she is a clever handsome woman poor and plausible and altogether such in situation and manner as to a general idea among sir walter s acquaintance of her meaning to be lady and as general a that miss should be apparently blind to danger here mrs smith paused a moment but anne had not a word to say and she continued this was the light in which it appeared to those who knew the family long before you returned to it and colonel had his eye upon your enough to be sensible of it though he did not then visit in place but his regard for mr gave him an interest in watching all that was going oo there and when mr came to bath for a day or two as he happened to do a little before christmas colonel made him acquainted with the appearance of things and the reports beginning to prevail now you are to understand that time had worked a very material change in mr s opinions as to the value of a upon all points of blood and he is a completely altered man long had as much money as he could spend nothing to wish for on the side of or indulgence he has been gradually learning to pin his happiness upon the consequence he is heir to i thought it coming on before our acquaintance ceased but it is now a confirmed feeling he cannot bear the idea of not being sir william you may guess therefore that the news he heard from his friend could not be very agreeable and you may guess what it produced the resolution of coming back to bath as soon as possible and of fixing himself here for a time with the view of former acquaintance and recovering such a footing in the family as might give him the means of the persuasion e of hu danger and of the lady if it material this was agreed upon between the friends aa the only to be done and colonel e was to assist in that he could he was introduced and mrs was to be introduced was to be introduced mr came and on application was forgiven as b know and re admitted into the family j and there constant object and his only object till your added another motive to watch sir walter and clay he omitted no opportunity of being with m threw himself in their way called at all hours need not he particular on this subject you can e what an artful man would do and with this perhaps may recollect what you have seen him yes said anne you tell me nothing which does accord with what i have known or could imagine is always something in the details of the of and ever be but i have heard nothing which surprises me i know those who would be by a representation of mr who would have difficulty in believing it but have never been i have always wanted some other motive for his conduct than appeared i should like to know his present opinion as to the probability of the event he has been in dread of danger to be or not understand replied mrs smith he thinks clay afraid of him aware that he sees through her and not daring to proceed as she might do in his absence but since he must be absent some time or other i do not perceive how he can ever be c while she holds her present influence mrs has an amusing idea as nurse tells me that it is to be put persuasion into the marriage articles when you and mr that your father is not to marry mrs clay a scheme worthy of mrs s understanding by accounts but my sensible nurse sees the of it why to be sure ma am said she it would not prevent his marrying anybody else and indeed to own the truth i do not think nurse in her heart is a very of sir walter s a second match she	26
must be allowed to be a of matrimony you know and since self will intrude who can say that she may not have some flying of attending the next lady through mrs i recommendation i am very glad to know all this said anne after a it will be more painful to me in some respects to be in company with him but i shall know better what to do my line of conduct will be more direct mr is a artificial worldly man who has had never any better principle to guide him than selfishness but mr was not yet done with mrs smith had been carried away from her first direction and anne had forgotten in the interest of her own family concerns how much had been originally implied against him but her attention was now called to the explanation of those first hints and she listened to a recital which if it did not perfectly the bitterness of mrs smith proved him to have been very in his conduct towards her very deficient both io justice and compassion she learned that the intimacy between them continuing by mr s marriage they had been as before always together and mr had led his friend into expenses much beyond his fortune mrs smith did not want to take blame to herself and was most tender of throwing any on her husband but anne persuasion could collect that their income had never been equal to their style of living and that from the first there had been a great deal of general and joint from his wife s account of him she could discern mr smith to have been a man of warm feelings temper careless habits and not strong understanding much more amiable than his friend and very unlike him led by him and probably despised by mr raised by his marriage to great and disposed to every gratification of pleasure and vanity which could bi commanded without himself for with all his self indulgence he had become a prudent man and beginning to be rich just as his friend ought to have found himself to be poor seemed to have had no concern at all for that friend s probable but on the contrary had been and encouraging expenses which could end only in ruin and the accordingly had been ruined the husband had died just in time to be spared the full knowledge of it they had previously known enough to try the friendship of friends and to prove that mr s had better not be tried but it was not till his death that the wretched state of his affairs was fully known with a confidence in mr s regard more creditable to his feelings than his judgment mr smith appointed him the of bis will but mr would not act and the difficulties and which this refusal had heaped on her in addition to the inevitable sufferings of her situation had been such as could not be related without anguish of spirit or listened to without corresponding indignation anne was some letters of his on the on q urgent from mrs smith which breathed the same stem resolution of not engaging in trouble and under a cold civility the same persuasion to any of the evils it n bring on her it was a dreadful picture of and j aod anne felt at some moments th no open crime could have been worse she a great deal to linen to j all the particulars of past scenes all the of upon distress which in former conversations had been hinted at dwelt on now with a natural indulgence anne perfectly comprehend the exquisite relief and was only the more inclined to wonder at the of friend s usual state of mind there was one circumstance in the history of her of particular irritation she had good to believe that some property of her husband in the west indies which had been for many years under a sort of for the payment of its own might be by proper measures and this property though not large would be to make her comparatively rich but there was nobody to stir in it mr would do nothing and she could do nothing herself equally from personal exertion by her state of bodily weakness and fr others by her want of money she had natural to assist her even with their and she could not to purchase the the law this was a cruel of means to feel that she ought to be better circumstances that a little place might do it and to fear that delay might be ei her claims was hard to bear it was on this point that she had hoped to e anne s good offices with mr she had j in the anticipation of their marriage been apprehensive of losing her friend by it but on assured that he could have made no attempt of tl nature since he did not even know h it immediately that might bt done in her by the influence of the woman he loved and she had been hastily preparing to interest anne a feelings as far as the due to mr a character would allow when anne s of the supposed engagement changed the face of everything and while it took from her the new formed hope of succeeding in the object of her first anxiety left her tt the comfort of telling the whole story her own way after listening to this full description of mr anne could not but express some sur at mrs smith s having spoken of him so in the beginning of their conversation she had seemed to recommend and praise him l my dear was mrs smith s reply there was else to be done i considered your him as certain though he might not yet have made the and i could no more speak the	26
guarded and more cool than she had been the night before he wanted to her curiosity again as to how and where he could have heard her formerly praised wanted very much to be gratified by more persuasion but the charm was broken he found that the heat and animation of a public room waa necessary to his cousin s vanity he found least that ic was not to be done now by any of those attempts which he could hazard among the too commanding claims of the others he chat it was a subject acting now exactly against his interest bringing immediately to her thoughts all those parts of his conduct which were least she had some satisfaction in finding that he was really going out of bath the next morning going early and that he would be gone the greater part of two days he was invited again to place the very evening of his return but from thursday to saturday evening his absence was certain it was bad enough that a mrs clay should be always before her but that a deeper should be added to their party seemed the destruction of like peace and comfort it was so humiliating to reflect on the constant deception practised on her father and elizabeth to consider the various sources of mortification preparing for them mrs clay s selfishness was not so nor so as hia and anne would have for the marriage at once with all its evils to be clear of mr s in endeavouring to prevent it on friday morning she meant to go very early to lady and accomplish the necessary and she would have gone directly after breakfast but that mrs clay was also going out on some obliging purpose of saving her sister trouble which determined her to wait till she might be safe from such a companion she saw mrs clay off therefore before she began to talk of spending the morning in street very well said elizabeth i have nothing to end but my love oh you may as well bade that tiresome book she would lend me and pretend have read it through i really cannot be for ever with all the new poems and states of the that come out lady quite one with hei new you need not tell her so but i thought her dress hideous the other night i used to think she had some taste in dress but i was ashamed of her at the concert something so formal aod arrange in her air and she sits so upright my best of course and mine added sir walter kindest regards and you may say that i mean to call upon her soon make a civil message but i shall only leave my card morning visits are never fair by women at her time of life who make themselves up so little if she would only wear she would not be afraid of being seen but last time i called i observed the blinds were let down immediately while her father spoke there was a knock at the door who could it be anne remembering the visits at all hours of mr would have expected him but for his known engagement seven miles off after the usual period of suspense the usual sounds of approach were heard and mr and mrs charles were ushered into the room surprise was the strongest emotion raised by appearance but anne was really glad to see them and the others were not so sorry but that they could put on a decent air of welcome and as soon as it became clear that these their nearest relations were not arrived with any views of accommodation in that house sir walter and elizabeth were able to rise in cordiality and do the honours of it very well they were come to bath for a few days with mrs and were at the white so much was pretty soon understood but till sir walter and elizabeth were walking persuasion mary into the other drawing room and es with her admiration anne could not draw upon charles s for a regular history of their coming or an of some smiling hints of particular business which had been by mary as well as of some apparent confusion as to whom their party consisted of she then found that it consisted of mrs and captain their two selves he gave her a very plain intelligible account of the whole a in which she saw a great deal of most characteristic proceeding the scheme had received its impulse by captain s wanting to come co bath on business he had begun to talk of it a week ago and by way of doing something as shooting was over charles had proposed coming with him and mrs had seemed to like the idea of it very much aa an advantage to her husband but mary could not bear to be left and had made herself so unhappy about it that for a day or two everything seemed to be in suspense or nt an end but then it had been taken up by his and mother his mother had some old in bath whom she wanted to see it was thought a good opportunity for to come and buy wedding clothes for herself and her sister and in short it ended in being his mother s party that everything might be comfortable and easy to captain and he and mary included in it by way of general convenience they had arrived late the night before mrs her children and captain with mr and at anne s only surprise was that should be in enough for s wedding clothes to be talked of she had imagined such of fortune to exist there as must prevent the marriage from being near at hand but she learned from charles that persuasion very recently since mary s last letter to herself	26
charles had been applied to by a to hold a living for a youth who could not possibly claim it under many years and that on the strength of this present income with almost a certainty of something more permanent long before the term in question the two families had consented to the young people s wishes and that their marriage was likely to take place in a few months quite as soon as s and a very good living it was charles added only five and from and in a very fine country fine part of in the centre of some of the best preserves in the kingdom surrounded by three great each more careful and jealous than the other and to two of the three at least charles might get a special recommendation not that he will value it as he ought he observed charles is too cool about sporting that s the worst of him i am extremely glad indeed cried anne particularly glad that this should happen and that of two sisters who both deserve equally well and who have always been such good friends the pleasant prospects of one should not be those of the other that they should bt so equal in their prosperity and comfort i hope your father and mother are quite happy with regard to both oh yes my father would be as well pleased if the gentlemen were richer but he has no other to find money you know coming down with money two daughters at once it cannot be a very agreeable operation and it him as to many things however i do not mean to say they have not a right to it it is very fit they should have daughters shares and i am sure he has always been a very kind liberal father to me mary does not above half like s match she never did you know but she a s dot do him justice nor think enough about i cannot make her attend to the value of the property it is a very fair match as times go and i have liked charles all my life and i shall not leave off now such excellent parents as mr and mrs exclaimed anne should be happy in their children s marriages they do everything to confer happiness i am sure what a blessing to young people co be in such hands your father and mother seem totally free from all those ambitious feelings which have led to so much and misery both in young and old i hope you think perfectly recovered now e he answered rather hesitatingly yea i believe i do i very much recovered but she is altered there is no running or jumping about no laughing or dancing it is quite if one happens only to shut the door a little hai d she and like a young in the water and sits at her elbow reading verses or whispering to her all day long anne could not help laughing that cannot be much to your taste i know said she but i do believe him to be an excellent young man to be sure he is nobody doubts ii and hope you do not think i am so as to want every man to have the same objects and pleasures as myself i have a great value for and when one can but get him to talk he has plenty to say his reading has done him no harm for he has fought as well as read he is a brave fellow got more acquainted with him last monday than ever i before we had a famous set to at rat hunting al the morning in my father s great and he played his part so well that i have liked him the better ever since here they were interrupted by the absolute necessity ot charles s following the others to admire and persuasion china but anne had heard enough to understand the present state of and rejoice in its happiness and though she sighed as she rejoiced her sigh had none of the ill will of envy in it she would certainly have risen to their blessings if she could but she did not want to lessen theirs the visit passed off altogether in high good humour mary was in excellent spirits enjoying the gaiety and the change and so well satisfied with the journey in her mother in law s carriage with four horses and with her own complete independence of place that she was exactly in a temper to admire everything as she ought and enter most readily into all the of the house as they were detailed to her she had no demands on her father or sister and her consequence was just enough increased by their handsome elizabeth was for a short time suffering a good deal she felt that mrs and all her party ought to be asked to dine with them but she could not bear to have the difference of style the of servants which a dinner must betray witnessed by those who had been always so inferior to the of it was a struggle between propriety and vanity but vanity got the better and then elizabeth was happy again these were her internal old fashioned notions country hospitality we do not profess to give dinners few people in bath do lady never does did not even ask her own sister s family though they were here a month and it would be very inconvenient to mrs put her quite out of her way i am sure she would rather not come she cannot feel easy with us i will ask them all for an evening that will be much better that will be a novelty and a treat they have not seen two such drawing rooms before they will be delighted to come to morrow evening it shall	26
be a regular party small but most elegant and this satisfied elizabeth and when the invitation was given to the two and promised for the absent mary waa as completely satisfied she was particularly asked to meet mr and be introduced to lady and miss who were fortunately already engaged to come and she could not have received a gratifying attention miss was lo have the honour of calling on mrs in the course of the and anne walked with charles and mary to go and see her and directly her plan of sitting with lady must ve way for the present they all three called in rivers street for a couple of minutes j but anne convinced that a day s delay of the intended communication could be of no consequence and hastened forward to the white to see again the friends and companions of the last autumn with an eagerness of good will which many associations contributed to form they found mrs and her daughter within and by themselves and anne had the kindest welcome from each was exactly in that state of recently improved views of fresh formed happiness which made her full of regard and interest for everybody she had ever liked before at all j and mrs a real affection had been won by her usefulness when they were in distress it was a and a and a sincerity which anne delighted in the more from the sad want of such at home she was to give them as much of her time as possible invited for every day and ail day long or rather claimed as a part of the family and in return she naturally fell into all her ways of attention and assistance and on charles s leaving them together was listening to mn s history of and to s persuasion of herself giving opinions on and to shops with intervals of every help which mary required from her ribbon to her accounts from finding her keys and her to trying to convince her that she was not ill used by anybody which mary well amused as she generally was in her station at a window overlooking the entrance to the pump room could not but have her moments of imagining a morning of thorough confusion was to be expected a large party in an hotel a unsettled scene one five minutes brought a note the next a parcel and anne had not been there half an hour when their dining room spacious as it was seemed more than half filled a party of steady old friends were seated round mrs and charles came back with captains and the appearance of the latter could not be more than the surprise of the moment it was impossible for her to have forgotten to feel that this arrival of their common friends must be soon bringing them again their last meeting had been most important in opening his feelings she had derived from it a delightful conviction but she feared from his looks that the same unfortunate persuasion which had hastened away from the concert room still governed he did not seem to want to be near enough for conversation she tried to be calm and leave things to take their course and tried to dwell much on this argument of rational surely if there be constant attachment on each side our hearts must understand each other ere long we are not boy and girl to be irritable by every moment s and playing with our own happiness and yet a few minutes afterwards she felt as their persuasion being in company with each other under their present circumstances could only be exposing them to and of the most mischievous kind anne cried mary still at her window there is mrs clay i am sure standing under the and a gentleman with her i saw them turn the comer from bath street just now they seem deep in talk who is it come and tell me good heavens recollect it is mr himself no cried anne quickly it cannot be mr i assure you he was to leave bath at nine this morning and does not come back till to morrow as she spoke she felt that captain was looking at her the consciousness of which vexed and embarrassed her and made her regret that she had said so much simple as it was mary that she should be supposed not to know her own cousin began talking very warmly about the family features and protesting still more positively that it was mr calling again upon anne to come and look herself but anne did not mean to stir and tried to be cool and her distress returned however on perceiving smiles and intelligent glances pass between two or three of the lady visitors as if they believed themselves quite in the secret it was evident that the report concerning her had spread and a short pause succeeded which seemed to that it would now spread farther do come anne cried mary come and look yourself you will be too late if you do not make haste they are parting they are shaking hands he is turning away not know mr indeed you seem to have forgot all about to mary and perhaps screen her own embarrassment anne did move quietly to the window she persuasion was just id time to ascertain that it really was mr which she had never believed before he disappeared on one side as mrs clay walked quickly off on the other and checking the surprise which she could not but feel at such an appearance of friendly conference between two persons of totally opposite interests she calmly said yes it is mr certainly he has changed his hour of going i suppose that is all or i may be mistaken i might not attend and walked back to her chair and with the comfortable hope of having	26
herself well the visitors took their leave and charles having seen them off and then made a face at them and abused them for coming began with well mother have done something for you that you will like i have been to the theatre and secured a box for to morrow night a n t i a good boy i know you love a play and there is room for us all it holds nine i have engaged captain anne will not be sorry to join us i am sure we all like a play have not i done well mother mrs was good beginning to express her perfect readiness for the play if and all the others liked it when mary eagerly interrupted her by exclaiming good heavens charles how can you think of such a thing take a box for to morrow night have you forgot that we are engaged to place to morrow night and that we were most particularly asked to meet lady and her daughter and mr all the principal family on purpose to be introduced to them how can you be so forgetful replied charles what s an evening party never worth remembering your father might have asked us to dinner i think if he had o mr representative of persuasion wanted tu see you may do as you like but i go to the play oh charles i declare it will be too abominable if you do when you promised to go no i did not promise i only and bowed and said the word happy there was no but you must go charles it would be le to fail we were asked on purpose to be introduced there was always such a great between the and ourselves nothing ever happened on either side that was not announced immediately we are quite near relations you know and mr too whom you ought so particularly to be acquainted with every attention u consider my father s heir the the family don t talk to me about and representatives cried charles i am not one of those who neglect the power to bow to the rising sun if would not go for the sake of your father i should think it scandalous to go for the sake of his heir what is mr to me the careless expression was life to anne who saw that captain was all attention looking and listening with his whole soul and that the last words brought his eyes from charles to herself charles and mary still talked on in the same style he half and half maintaining the scheme for the play and she invariably serious most warmly opposing it and not to make it known that however determined to go to place herself she should not think herself very well used if they went to the play without her mrs interposed we had better put it off charles you had much better go back and change the box for tuesday it would be a pity to be divided and we should be losing persuasion miss anne too if there is a party at her father s and i am sure neither nor i should care at all for the play if miss anne could not be with us anne felt truly obliged to her for such kindness and quite as much so for the opportunity it gave her of decidedly saying if it depended only on my inclination ma am the party at home excepting on mary s account would not be the smallest i have no pleasure in the rt of meeting and should be too happy to change it for a play and with you but it had better not be attempted perhaps she had spoken it but she trembled when it was done conscious that her words were listened to and daring not even to try to observe their effect it was soon generally agreed that tuesday should be the day charles only the advantage of still his wife by that he would go to the play to morrow if nobody else would captain left his seat and walked to the fire place probably for the sake of walking away from it soon afterwards and taking a station with less design by anne you have not been long enough in bath said he to enjoy the evening parties of the place oh i no the usual character of them has nothing for me i am no card player y ou were not formerly i know you did not use to like cards but time makes many changes i am not yet so much changed cried anne and stopped fearing she hardly knew what after waiting a few moments he said and as if it were the result of immediate feeling it is a period indeed eight years and a half is a period whether he would have proceeded farther was left to anne s imagination to over in a calmer hour persuasion for hearing the sounds he bad uttered she was startled to other subjects by eager to make use of the leisure for getting out and calling oa her companions to lose no time lest somebody else they were obliged to move anne talked of being perfectly ready and tried to look it but she that could have known the regret and reluctance of her heart in that chair in preparing to quit the room she would have found in ail her own sensations tor her cousin in the very security of his wherewith to pity her their preparations however were stopped short alarming sounds heard other visitors approached and the door was thrown open for sir walter and miss whose entrance seemed to give a general chill anne felt an instant oppression and wherever she looked saw symptoms of the same the comfort the freedom the gaiety of the room was hushed into cold composure determined silence or talk to	26
meet the elegance of her father and how to thai it was so her jealous eye was in one particular captain was acknowledged again by each by elizabeth more graciously than e she even addressed him once and looked at him more than once elizabeth was in fact revolving a great measure the explained it after the waste of a few minutes in saying the proper she began to give the invitation which was to all the remaining of the to morrow evening to meet a few friends no party it was all said very gracefully and the cards with which she had provided herself the miss at home were laid on the t le with a courteous smile to all and one smile and one card more decidedly for captain persuasion the truth was that elizabeth had been enough in bath to understand the importance of a man of such an air and appearance as his the past was nothing the present was that captain would move about well in her drawing room the card was given and sir walter and elizabeth arose and disappeared the interruption had been short though severe and ease and animation returned to most of those they left as the door shut them out but not to anne she could think only of the invitation she had with such astonishment witnessed and of the manner in which it had been received a manner of doubtful meaning of surprise rather than gratification of polite acknowledgment rather than acceptance she knew him she saw disdain in his eyes and could not venture to believe that he had determined to accept such an offering as an for all the insolence of the past her spirits sank he held the card in his hand after they were gone as if deeply considering it only think of elizabeth s including everybody whispered mary very audibly i do not wonder captain is delighted you see he cannot put the card out of his hand anne caught his eye saw his cheeks glow and his mouth form itself into a momentary expression of contempt and turned away that she might neither see nor hear more to vex her the party separated the gentlemen had their own pursuits the ladies proceeded on their own business and they met no more while anne belonged to them she was earnestly begged to return and dine and give them all the rest of the day but her spirits had been so long exerted that at present she felt unequal to more and fit only for home where she might be sure of being as silent as she chose j s promising to be with them the whole of the following morning therefore she closed the of the present by a walk to place there to spend the evening chiefly in listening to the busy arrangements of elizabeth and mrs clay for tlie morrow s party the frequent of the invited and the continually improving detail of all the which were to make it the most completely elegant of its kind in bath while herself in secret with the never ending question of whether captain would come or not they were reckoning him as certain but with her it was a solicitude never appeased for five minutes together she generally thought he would come because she generally thought he ought j but it was a case which she could not shape into any positive act of duty or discretion as inevitably to defy the suggestions of very opposite feelings she only roused herself from the of this restless agitation to let mrs clay know that she had been seen with mr three hours after his supposed lo be out of bath for having watched in vain for some intimation of the interview from the lady herself she determined lo mention it and it seemed to her that there was guilt in mrs clay s face as she listened it was transient cleared away in an instant but anne could imagine she read there the consciousness of having by some of mutual trick or some authority of his been obliged to attend perhaps for half an hour to his lectures and on her designs on sir walter she exclaimed however with a very tolerable imitation of nature oh dear very true only think miss to my great i met with mr in bath street i was never more astonished he turned hack and walked with me to the pump yard he had been persuasion prevented setting off for but i really forget by what for i was in a hurry and could not much attend and i can only answer for his being determined not to be delayed in his return he wanted to know how early he might be admitted to morrow he was full of to morrow and it is very evident that i have been full of it too ever since i entered the house and learned the extension of your plan and all that had happened or my seeing him could never have gone so entirely out of my head one day only had passed since anne s conversation with mrs but a interest had succeeded and she was now so little touched by mr s conduct except by its effects in one quarter that it became a matter of course the next morning still to her visit in rivers street she had promised to be with the from breakfast to dinner her faith was and mr s character like the s head must live another day she could not keep her appointment however the weather was and she had grieved over the rain on her friend s account and felt it very much on her own before she was able to attempt the walk when she reached the white and made her way to the proper apartment she found herself neither arriving quite in time nor the first to arrive the	26
party before her were mrs talking to mrs and captain to captain and she immediately heard that mary and too impatient to wait had gone out the mo persuasion ment it had cleared but would be back again soon and that the had been left with mrs to keep her there till they returned she had only to submit sit down be outwardly composed and feel herself plunged at once in all the which she had merely laid her account of a little before the morning closed there was no delay no waste of time she was deep in the happiness of such misery or the misery of such happiness instantly two minutes after her entering the room captain said we will write the letter we were talking of now if you will give me materials materials were all at hand on a separate table he went to it and nearly turning his back on them all was engrossed by writing mrs was giving mrs the history of her eldest daughter s engagement and just in that inconvenient tone of voice which was perfectly audible while it pretended to be a whisper anne felt that she did not belong to the conversation and yet as captain seemed thoughtful and not disposed to talk she could not avoid hearing many particulars such as how mr and my brother had met again and again to talk it over what my brother had said one day and what mr had proposed the next and what had occurred to my sister and what the young people had wished and what i said at first i never could consent to but was afterwards persuaded to think might do very well and a great deal in the same style of open hearted communication which even with every advantage of taste and delicacy good mrs could not give could be properly interesting only to the mrs was attending with great good humour and whenever she persuasion spoke at all it was very anne hoped the gentlemen might each be too much self occupied to hear and ma am all these things considered said mrs in her powerful whisper though we could have wished it different yet altogether we did not think it fair to stand out any longer for charles was quite wild about it and was pretty near as bad and so we thought they had better marry at once and make the best of it as many others have done before them at any rate said i it will be better than a long engagement that is precisely what i was going to observe cried mrs i would rather have young people settle on a small income at once and have to struggle with a few difficulties together than be involved in a long engagement i always think that no mutual oh dear mrs cried mrs unable to let her finish her speech there is nothing i so for young people as a long engagement it is what i always protested against for my children it is all very well i used to say for young people to be engaged if there is a certainty of their being able to marry in six months or even in twelve but a long engagement yes dear ma am said mrs or an certain engagement an engagement which may be long to begin without knowing that at such a time there will be the means of marrying i hold to be very and unwise and what i think all parents should prevent as far as they can anne found an unexpected interest here she felt its application to herself felt it in a nervous thrill all over her and at the same moment that her eyes instinctively glanced towards the distant table captain s pen ceased to move his head was raised persuasion pausing and lie turned round the next instant to give look one quick look at her the two ladies continued to talk to re urge the same admitted truths and enforce them with such examples of the ill effect of a contrary practice as had fallen within their observation but anne heard nothing distinctly it was only a of words in her ear her mind was in confusion captain who had in truth been hearing done of it now left his seat and moved to a window and anne seeming to watch him though it was from thorough absence of mind became gradually sensible that he was inviting her to join him where he stood he looked at her with smile and a little motion of the head which expressed come to me i have something to say and tjie unaffected easy kindness of manner which the feelings of an older acquaintance than he really was strongly enforced the invitation she roused herself and went to him the window at which he stood was at the other end of the room from where the two ladies were sitting and though nearer to captain s table not very near as she joined him captain s countenance re assumed the serious thoughtful expression which seemed its natural look here said he a parcel in his hand and displaying a small miniature p j do you know who that is certainly captain yes and you may guess who it is for but in a deep tone it was not done far her miss do you remember our walking together at and for him f i little thought but no matter this was drawn at the cape he met witli a clever young german at the cape and in compliance with a promise to my poor sister sat to him and persuasion was bringing it home for her and i have now the charge of getting it properly set for another it was a commission to me but who else was there to employ i hope i can allow for him i am not sorry indeed	26
to make it over to another he it looking towards captain he is writing about it now and with a quivering lip he wound up the whole by adding poor she would not have forgotten him so soon no replied anne in a low feeling voice that i can believe it was not in her nature she on him it would not be the nature of any woman who truly loved captain smiled as much as to say do you claim that for your sex and she answered the question smiling also yes we certainly do not forget you so soon as you forget us it is perhaps our fate rather than our merit we cannot help ourselves we live at home quiet confined and our feelings prey upon us you are forced on exertion you have always a profession pursuits business of some sort or other to take you back into the world immediately and continual occupation and change soon impressions your assertion that the world does all this so soon for men which however i do not think i shall grant it does not apply to ben he has not been forced upon any exertion the peace turned him on shore at the very moment and he has been living with us in our little family circle ever since true said anne very true i did not recollect but what shall we say now captain if the change be not from outward circumstances it must be from within it must be nature man s nature which has done the business for captain r persuasion no no it is not man s nature i will not allow id forget those tliey do lo e or have loved i believe the i in a true between our bodily frames and our and that as ur bodies are the strongest so are our feelings capable of bearing most rough usage and riding out the heaviest weather your feelings may be the strongest replied anne but the same spirit of will me to assert that ours are the most tender man is more robust than woman but he is not longer lived which exactly explains my view of the nature of their nay it would be too hard upon you if it were otherwise you have difficulties and and enough to struggle with you are always and toiling exposed to every risk and hardship your home country friends all quitted neither time nor health nor life to be called your it would be too hard indeed with a faltering we shall never agree upon this question captain was beginning to say when a slight noise called their attention to captain s hitherto perfectly quiet division of the room it was nothing more than that his pen had fallen down but anne was startled at finding him nearer than she bad supposed and half inclined to suspect that the pen had only fallen because he had been occupied by them to catch sounds which yet she did not think he could have caught have you finished your letter said captain not quite a few lines more i shall have done in persuasion there is no hurry on my side i am only ready whenever you are i am in very good here smiling at anne well supplied and want for nothing no hurry for a signal at all well miss lowering his voice as i was saying we shall never agree i suppose upon this point no man and woman would probably but let me observe that all histories are against you all stories prose and verse if i had such a memory as i could bring you fifty in a moment on my side the argument and i do not think i ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman s songs and all talk of woman s but perhaps you will say these were all written by men perhaps i shall yes yes if you please no reference to examples in books men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story education has been theirs in so much higher a degree the pen has been in their hands i will not allow books to prove anything but how shall we prove anything we never shall we never can expect to prove anything upon such a point it is a difference of opinion which does not admit of proof we each begin probably with a little bias towards our own sex and upon that bias build every circumstance in of it which has occurred within our own circle many of which circumstances perhaps those very cases which strike us the most may be precisely such as cannot be brought forward without betraying a confidence or in some respect saying what should not be said ah cried captain in a tone of strong feeling if i could but make you comprehend what a man suffers when he takes a last look at his wife and children and watches the boat that he has sent them off persuasion in as it s in sight and then turns away and god knows whether we ever meet again and then if i could convey to you the glow of his soul when he does see them again when coming back after a s absence perhaps and obliged to put into another port he how soon it be possible to get them there pretending to deceive himself and saying they cannot be here till such a day but all the while hoping for them twelve hours sooner and seeing them arrive at as if heaven had given them wings by many hours sooner still if i could explain to you all tliis and all that a man can bear and do and glories to do for the sake of treasures of his existence i speak you know only of such men as have	26
hearts pressing his own with emotion oh cried anne eagerly i hope i do justice to all that is felt by you and by those who resemble you god forbid that i should the warm and faithful feelings of any of my fellow creatures i should deserve utter contempt if i dared to suppose that true attachment and constancy were known only by woman no i believe you capable of everything great and good in your married lives i believe you equal to every important exertion and to every domestic forbearance so long as if i may be allowed the expression long as you have an object i mean while the woman you love lives and lives for you ai the privilege i claim for my it is not a very one you need not it is that of loving longest when existence or when hope is gone she could not immediately have uttered another sentence her heart was too full her breath to much oppressed you are a good soul putting his hand on her arm quite affectionately there is no quarrelling with you and when i think of my tongue is tied a persuasion their attention was called the mrs was taking leave here you and i part company i b bald she i am going home aod you have i engagement with your friend to night we may hai the pleasure of all meeting again at your party to anne we had your sister s card yesterday an i had a card too though i di not it and you are disengaged are yo not as well as ourselves n was folding up a letter in haste and either could not or would not answer fully yea bad he very here we separate bu and i shall soon be after you that is if you are ready i am in half a minute i know you will not be sorry to be off i shall be at your rice in half a minute mrs left them and captain having sealed his letter with great rapidity was indeed ready and had even a hurried agitated air which impatience to be gone anne knew not how to understand it she had the kindest good morning god bless you i from captain but from him a word nor a look he had passed out of the without a look she had only time however to move closer i table where he had been writing when footsteps heard returning the door opened it was himself he begged their pardon but he had forgotten his gloves and instantly crossing the room to the writing and standing with his back towards mrs he drew out a letter from under the scattered paper placed it before anne with eyes of glowing entreaty fixed on for a time and hastily collecting his gloves was again out of the room before mrs wa aware of his being in it the work of an persuasion the revolution which one instant had made in anne was almost beyond expression the letter with a direction hardly to miss a e was evidently the one which he had been folding so hastily while supposed to be writing only to captain he had been also addressing her on the contents of that letter depended all which this world could do for her anything was possible anything might be defied rather than suspense mrs had little arrangements of her own at her own table to their protection she must trust and sinking into the chair which he had occupied succeeding to the very spot where he had leaned and written her eyes devoured the following words i can listen no longer in silence i must speak to you by such means as are within my reach you pierce my soul i am half agony half hope tell me not that i am too late that such precious feelings are gone for ever i offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it eight years and a half ago dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman that his love has an earlier death i have loved none but you unjust i may have been weak and i have been but never you alone have brought me to bath for you alone i think and plan have you not seen this can you fail to have understood my wishes i had not waited even these ten days could i have read your feelings as i think you must have penetrated mine i can hardly write i am every instant hearing something which me you sink your voice but i can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others too good too excellent creature you do us justice indeed you do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men believe it to be most fervent most in f w persuasion i must go uncertain of my fate but i shall return hither or follow your party as soon as possible a word a look will be enough to decide whether i enter your other s house this evening or never such a letter was not to be soon recovered from half an hour s solitude and reflection might have her but the ten minutes only which now passed before she was interrupted with all the of her situation could do nothing towards tranquillity every moment rather brought fresh agitation it was an overpowering happiness and before she was beyond the first stage of full sensation charles mary and all came in the absolute necessity of seeming like herself produced then an immediate struggle but after a while she could do no more she began not to understand a word they said and was obliged to plead and excuse herself they could then see that she looked very ill were shocked and concerned and would not stir	26
without her for the world this was dreadful would they only have gone away and left her in the quiet possession of that room it would have been her cure but to have them all standing or waiting around her was and in desperation she said she would go home by all means my dear cried mrs go home directly and take care of yourself that you may be fit for the evening i wish was here to doctor you but i am no doctor myself charles ring and order a chair she must not walk but the chair would never do worse than all to lose the possibility of speaking two words to captain in the course of her quiet solitary progress up the town and she felt almost certain of meeting him could not be borne the chair was persuasion earnestly protested against and mrs who thought only of one sort of illness having assured herself with some anxiety that there had been no fall in the case that anne had not at any time lately slipped down and got a blow on her head that she was perfectly convinced of having had no fall could part with her cheerfully and depend on finding her better at night anxious to omit no precaution anne struggled and said i am afraid ma am that it is not perfectly understood pray be so good as to mention to the other gentlemen that we hope to see your whole party this evening am afraid there has been some mistake and i wish you particularly to assure captain and captain that we hope to see them both oh my dear it is quite understood i give you my word captain has no thought but of going do you think so but i am afraid and i should be so very sorry will you promise me to mention it when you see them again you will see them both again this morning i dare say do promise me to be sure i will if you wish it charles if you see captain anywhere remember to give miss anne s message but indeed my dear you need not be uneasy captain holds himself quite engaged i ll answer for it and captain the same i dare say anne could do no more but her heart some to damp the perfection of her felicity it could not be very lasting however even if he did not come to place himself it would be in her power to send an intelligible sentence by captain another momentary vexation occurred charles persuasion id his real and good would home with her there was no him this wai almost cruel but she could not be long ungrateful he was sacrificing an engagement at a s to be of use to her and she set off with him with no feeling but gratitude apparent li were in union street when a quicker step behind a something of sounds gave her two moments preparation for the sight of captain he joined them but as if whether to join or to pass on said nothing only looked anne could command herself enough to receive that look and not the cheeks which had been pale now glowed and the movements which had hesitated were decided he walked bj her side presently struck by a sudden thought charles said captain which way are you going only to gay street or farther up the town i hardly know replied captain surprised are you going as high as are you going near place because if you are i shall have no scruple in asking you to take my place and give anne your arm to her father s door she is rather done for this morning and must not go so far without help and i ought to be at that fellow s in the market place he promised me the sight of a capital gun he is just going to send off said he would keep it to the last possible moment that i might see it and if i do not turn back now i have no chance by his a good deal like the second sized of mine which you shot with one day round there could not be an objection there could be only a most proper alacrity a most obliging compliance for public view and smiles in and spirits persuasion d private rapture in half a minute charles was at the bottom of union street again and the other two proceeding together and soon words enough had passed between them to decide their direction towards the comparatively quiet and retired gravel walk where the power of conversation would make the present hour a indeed and prepare it for all the immortality which the happiest of their own future lives could bestow there they exchanged again those feelings and promises which had once before seemed to secure everything but which had been followed by so many many years of division and there they returned again into the past more exquisitely happy perhaps in their re union than when tt had been first projected more tender more tried more fixed in a knowledge of each other s character truth and attachment more equal to act more justified in acting and there as they slowly paced the gradual ascent heedless of every group around them seeing neither bustling girls nor and children they could indulge in those and and especially in those explanations of what had directly preceded the present moment which were so and so in interest all the little variations of the last week were gone through and of yesterday and to day there could scarcely be an end she had not mistaken him jealousy of mr had been the weight the doubt the torment that had begun to operate in the very hour of first meeting her in bath that had returned after a short to ruin the	26
concert and that liad influenced him in everything he had said and done or omitted to say and do in the last four and twenty hours it had been gradually yielding to the better hopes which her looks or words or actions occasionally it persuasion had been at last by those and those tones which had reached him while she talked with captain and under the irresistible of which he had seized a sheet of paper and poured out his feelings of what he had then written nothing was to be or qualified he persisted in having loved none but her she had never been he never even believed himself to see her equal thus much indeed he was obliged to acknowledge that he had been constant unconsciously nay that he had meant to forget her and believed it to be done he had imagined himself indifferent when he had only been angry and he had been unjust to her merits because he had been a sufferer fi om them her character was now fixed on his mind as perfection itself maintaining the loveliest medium of fortitude and gentleness but he was obliged to acknowledge that only at had he learnt to do her justice and only at had he begun to understand himself at he had received lessons of more than one sort the passing admiration of mr had at least roused him and the scenes on the and at the captain s had fixed her superiority in his preceding attempts to attach himself to the attempts of angry pride he protested that he had for ever felt it to be impossible that he had not cared could not care for though till that day till the leisure for reflection which followed it he had not understood the perfect excellence of the mind with which s could so ill bear a comparison or the perfect hold it possessed over his own there he had learnt to distinguish between the of principle and the obstinacy of self will between the of and the resolution of a collected mind there he had seen everything to i there begun to the pride the folly the of resentment which had kept him from trying to regain her when thrown in his way from dial period his penance had become severe he had no sooner been free from the horror and remorse he first few days of s accident no sooner begun to feel himself alive again than be had began to feel himself though alive not at liberty i found said he that i was considered by aa engaged man that neither nor his wife entertained a doubt of our mutual attachment i was and shocked to a degree i could contradict this instantly but when i began to reflect that others might have felt the same her own family nay herself i was no longer at my own disposal i was hers in honour if she wished it i had been i had not thought seriously on this subject before i had not considered that my excessive intimacy must have its danger of ill consequence in many ways and that i had no right to be trying whether i could attach myself to either of the girls at ihe risk of even an unpleasant report were there i do other ill i had been wrong and must abide the consequences he found too late in short that he had entangled himself and that precisely aa he became of his not caring for at all he regard himself as bound to her if her sentiments for him were what the supposed it determined him to leave and await her complete recovery elsewhere he would gladly by any fair means whatever feelings or concerning him might and he went therefore to his brother s meaning after a while to return to and act as circumstances might require persuasion i was six weeks with edward said he and saw him happy could have no other pleasure deserved none he after you very particularly asked even if you were personally altered little suspecting that to my eye you could never alter anne smiled and let it pass it was too pleasing a blunder for a reproach it is something for a woman to be assured in her eight and twentieth year that she has not lost one charm of earlier youth but the value of such homage was increased to anne by comparing it with former words and feeling it to be the result not the cause of a revival of his warm attachment he had remained in the blindness of his own pride and the of his own calculations till at once released from by the astonishing and intelligence of her engagement with here said he ended the worst of my state for now i could at least put myself in the way of happiness i could exert myself i could do something but to be waiting so long in and waiting only for evil had been dreadful within the first five minutes i said i will be at bath on wednesday and i was was it to think it worth my while to come and to arrive with some degree of hope you were single it was possible that you might retain the feelings of the past as i did and one encouragement happened to be mine i could never doubt that you would be loved and sought by others but i knew to a certainty that you had refused one man at least of better pretensions myself and i could not help often ng was this for me their first meeting in street afforded much to be said but the concert still more that evening seemed to be made up of exquisite moments the persuasion of her stepping forward in the room speak to him tlie moment of mr s appearing tearing her away and one or two marked by	26
answered ray letter would you in short have renewed the engagement then would i was all her answer but the accent was decisive enough good god he cried you would it is not that i did not think of it or desire it as what could alone crown all my other success but i was proud too proud to ask again i did not understand you i shut my eyes and would not understand you or do you justice this is a recollection which ought to make me forgive every one sooner than six years of separation and suffering might have been spared it is a sort of pain too which is new to me i have been used to the gratification of believing myself to earn every blessing that i enjoyed i have valued myself on honourable toils and just rewards like other great men under he added with a smile i must endeavour to subdue my mind to my fortune i must learn to brook being happier than i deserve who can be in doubt of what followed when any two young people take it into their heads to marry they are pretty sure by perseverance to carry their point be they ever so poor or ever persuasion as w or ever oo likely to be necessary to each other ultimate comfort this may be bad morality to conclude with i it to be truth and if parties succeed how should a captain and an anne with the advantage of maturity of mind consciousness of right and one independent fortune between them fail of bearing down every they might in fact have borne down a great deal more than they met with for there was little to distress them beyond the want of and warmth sir walter made no objection and elizabeth did nothing worse than look cold and captain with five and twenty thousand pounds and aa high in his profession as merit and activity could place him was no longer nobody he was now esteemed quite worthy to address the daughter of a foolish who had not had principle or sense enough to maintain himself in the in which providence had placed him and who could give his daughter at present but a small part of the share of thousand pounds which must be hers hereafter sir walter indeed though he had no affection for anne and no vanity flattered to make him really happy on the occasion was very far from thinking it a bad match for her on the contrary when he saw more of captain saw him repeatedly by daylight and eyed him well he was very much struck by his personal claims and felt that his superiority of appearance might be not balanced against her superiority of rank and all this assisted by his name enabled sir walter at last to prepare his pen with a very good grace for the of the marriage in the volume of honour the only one among them whose opposition of feeling could excite any serious anxiety was lady knew that lady must be suffering some persuasion pain in understanding and mr and be making some struggles to become truly acquainted with and do justice to captain this however was what lady had now to do she must learn to feel that she had been mistaken with regard to both that she had been influenced by appearances in each that because captain s manners had not suited her own ideas she had been too quick in suspecting them to indicate a character of dangerous and that because mr s manners had precisely pleased her in their propriety and their general politeness and she had been too quick in receiving them as the certain result of the most correct opinions and well regulated mind there was nothing less for lady to do than to admit that she had been pretty completely wrong and to take up a new set of opinions and of hopes there is a quickness of perception in some a in the of character a natural penetration in short which no experience in others can equal and lady had been less gifted in this part of understanding than her young friend but she was a very good woman and if her second object was to be sensible and well judging her first was to see anne happy she loved anne better than she loved her own abilities and when the awkwardness of die beginning was over found little hardship in herself as a mother to the man who was securing the happiness of her other child of all the family mary was probably the one most immediately gratified by the circumstance it was creditable to have a sister married and she might flatter herself with having been greatly to the by keeping anne with her in the autumn and as her own sister must be better than her husband s sisters it was very agreeable that captain should be a richer man than either captain or persuasion as charles she had something to suffer when they came into contact again in anne to the rights of and the mistress of a very pretty but she had a future to look forward to of powerful consolation anne had no hall before her no landed estate no of a family and if they could but keep captain from being made a she would not change with anne il would be well for the eldest sister if she were equally satisfied with her situation for a change is not ery probable there she had soon the mortification of mr withdraw and no one of proper condition has since presented himself to raise even the hopes which sunk with him the news of his cousin anne s engagement burst on mr most unexpectedly it his best of domestic happiness his beat hope of keeping ir walter single by the which a son s rights would have given	26
yours turning to her again it will certainly be yours and had much rather it were william s said smiling at her poor not allowed to cheat herself as she wishes mr said miss a few minutes afterwards you know henry to be such a capital that you cannot possibly en in anything of the sort at without accepting his help only think how useful he was at only think what grand things were produced there by our all going with him one hot day in august to drive about the grounds and see his genius take fire there we and there we came home again and what was done there is not to be told s eyes were turned on for a moment with an expression more than grave even but on catching his were instantly withdrawn with something of consciousness he shook his head at his sister and replied i cannot say there was much done at but it was a hot day and we were all walking after each other and bewildered as soon as a general gave him shelter he added in a low voice directed solely at i should be sorry to have my powers of planning judged of by the day at i see things very differently now do not think of me as i appeared then was a word to catch mrs and being just then in the happy leisure which followed securing the odd trick by sir thomas s capital play and her own against dr and mrs grant s great hands she called out in high yes that is a place indeed and we had a charming day there william you are quite out of luck but the next time you come i hope dear mr and mrs will be at home and i am sure i can answer for your being kindly received by both your cousins are not of a sort to forget their relations and mr is a most amiable man they are at now you know in one of the best houses there as s fine fortune gives them a right to be i do not exactly know the distance but when you get back to if it is not very far off you ought to go over and pay your respects to them and i could send a little parcel by you that i want to get conveyed to your cousins i should be very happy aunt but is almost by head and if i could get so far i could not expect to be welcome in such a smart place as that poor as i am mrs was beginning an eager assurance of the he might depend on when she was stopped by sir thomas s saying with authority i do not advise your going to william as i trust you may soon have more convenient opportunities of meeting but my daughters would be happy to see their cousins anywhere and you will find mr most sincerely disposed to regard all the connections of our family as his own i would rather find him private secretary to the first lord than anything else was william s only answer in an under voice not meant to reach far and the subject dropped as yet sir thomas had seen nothing to remark in mr s behavior but when the broke up at the end of the second rubber and leaving dr grant and mrs to dispute park over their last play he became a on at the other he found his niece the object of attentions or rather of professions of a somewhat pointed character henry was in the first glow of another scheme about and not being able to catch s ear was it to his ir neighbor with a look of considerable earnestness his scheme was to rent the house himself the winter that he might have a home of his own in that neighborhood and it was not merely for the use of it in the hunting season as he was then telling her though that consideration had certainly some weight feeling as he did that in spite of all dr grant s very great kindness it was impossible for him and his horses to be where they now were without material inconvenience but his attachment to that neighborhood did not depend upon one amusement or one season of the year he had set his heart upon having a something there that he could come to at any time a little home stall at his command where all the holidays of his year might be spent and he might find himself continuing improving and that friendship and intimacy with the park family which was increasing in value to him every day sir thomas heard and was not offended there was no want of respect in the young man s address and s reception of it was so pr r and modest so calm and that he had nothing to censure in her she said little assented only here and there and betrayed no inclination either of any part of park the compliment to herself or of his views in favor of finding by whom he was observed henry addressed himself on the same subject to sir thomas in a more every day tone but still with feeling i want to be your neighbor sir thomas as you have perhaps heard me telling miss price may i hope for your acquiescence and for your not your son against such a tenant sir thomas politely bowing replied it is the only way sir in which i could not wish you established as a permanent neighbor but i hope and believe that will occupy his own house at am i saying too much on this appeal had first to hear what was going on but on understanding the question was at no loss for an answer certainly sir i have no idea but of residence	26
but though i refuse you as a tenant come to me as a friend consider the house as half your own every winter and we will add to the stables on your own improved plan and with all the improvements of your improved plan that may occur to you this spring we shall be the continued sir thomas his going though only eight miles will be an unwelcome of our family circle but i should have been deeply if any son of mine could reconcile himself to doing less it is perfectly natural that you should not have thought much on the subject mr but a parish has wants and claims which can be known only by a clergy vol n man constantly resident and which no can be capable of satisfying to the same extent might in the common phrase do the duty of that is he might read prayers and preach without giving up park he might ride over every sunday to a house inhabited and go through divine service he might be the clergyman of every seventh day for three or four hours if that would content him but it will not he knows that human nature needs more lessons than a weekly sermon can convey and that if he does not live among his and prove himself by constant tion their well and friend he does very little either for their good or his own mr bowed his acquiescence i repeat again added sir thomas that is the only house in the neighborhood in which i should not be happy to wait on mr as mr bowed his thanks sir thomas said undoubtedly the duty of a parish priest we must hope his son may prove that he knows it too whatever sir thomas s little might really produce on mr it raised some awkward sensations in two of the others of his most attentive listeners miss and one of whom having never before under stood that was so soon and so completely to be his home was pondering with downcast eyes on what it would be not to see every day and the other startled from the agreeable fancies park she had been previously on the strength of her brother s description no longer able in the picture she had been forming of a future to shut out the church sink the clergyman and see only the respectable elegant and occasional residence of a man of independent fortune was considering sir thomas with decided ill will as the of all this and suffering the more from that involuntary forbearance which his character and manner commanded and from not daring to relieve herself by a single attempt at throwing ridicule on his cause all the agreeable of her speculation was over for that hour it was time to have done with cards if sermons prevailed and she was glad to find it to come to a conclusion and be able to refresh her spirits by a change of place and neighbor the chief of the party were now collected round the fire and waiting the final break up william and were the most detached they remained together at the otherwise deserted card table talking very comfortably and not thinking of the rest till some of the rest began to think of them henry s chair was the first to be given a direction towards them and he sat silently observing them for a few minutes himself in the mean while observed by sir thomas who was standing in chat with dr grant this is the assembly night said william if i were at i should be at it perhaps but you do not wish yourself at william park no that i do not i have enough of and of dancing too when i cannot have you and i do not know that there would be any good in going to the assembly for i might not get a partner the girls turn up their noses at anybody who has not a commission one might as well be nothing as a one is nothing indeed you remember the they are grown up amazing fine girls but they will hardly speak to me because is by a lieutenant oh shame shame but never mind it william her own cheeks in a glow of indignation as she spoke it is not worth it is no reflection on you it is no more than what the greatest have all experienced more or less in their time you must think of that you must try to make up your mind to it as one of the hardships which fall to every sailor s share like bad weather and hard living only with this advantage that there will be an end to it that there will come a time when you will have nothing of that sort to endure when you are a lieutenant only think william when you are a lieutenant how little you will care for any nonsense of this kind i begin to think i shall never be a lieutenant everybody gets made but me oh my dear william do not talk so do not be so my uncle says nothing but i am sure he will do everything in his power to get you made he knows as well as you do of what consequence it is park she was checked by the sight of her uncle much nearer to them than she had any suspicion of and each found it necessary to talk of something else are you fond of yes very only i am soon tired i should like to go to a ball with you and see you dance have you never any balls at i should like to see you dance and i d dance with you if you would for nobody would know who i was here and i should like to be your partner once	26
more we used to jump about together many a time did not we when the was in the street i am a pretty good in my way but i dare say you are a better and turning to his uncle who was now close to them is not a very good sir in dismay at such an question did not know which way to look or how to be prepared for the answer some very grave reproof or at least the expression of indifference must be coming to distress her brother and sink her to the ground but on the contrary it was no worse than i am sorry to say that i am unable to answer your question i have never seen dance since she was a little girl but i trust we shall both think she herself like a when we do see her which perhaps we may have an opportunity of doing i have had the pleasure of seeing your sister dance mr price said henry leaning forward and will engage to answer every inquiry which you can make on the subject to your entire satisfaction but i believe seeing park looked distressed it must be t some other time there is one person in who does not to have miss price spoken of true enough he had once seen dance and it was equally true that he now have answered for her gliding about with quiet light elegance and in admirable time but in fact he could not for the life of him recall what her dancing had been and rather took it for granted that she had been present than remembered anything about her he passed however for an admirer of her dancing and sir thomas by no means displeased prolonged the conversation on dancing in general and was so well engaged in describing the balls of and listening to what his nephew relate of the different modes of dancing which had fallen within his observation that he had not heard his carriage announced and was ist called to the knowledge of it by the bustle of come what are you about we are going do not you see your aunt is going quick quick i cannot bear to keep good old waiting you should always remember the coachman and horses my dear thomas we have settled it that the carriage should come back for you and and william sir thomas could not as it had been his own arrangement previously communicated to his wife and sister but that seemed forgotten by mrs who must fancy that she settled it au herself s last feeling in the visit was fare ment for the shawl which was quietly taking from the servant to bring and put round her shoulders was seized by mr s quicker hand and she was obliged to be indebted to his more prominent attention il william s desire of seeing dance made more a momentary impression on his uncle the hope of an opportunity which sir thomas had then given was not given to be thought of no more he remained steadily inclined to gratify so amiable a feeling to gratify anybody else who might wish to see dance and to give pleasure to the young people in general and having thought the matter over and taken his resolution in quiet independence the result of it appeared the next morning at breakfast when after recalling and what his nephew had said he added i do not like william that you should leave without this indulgence it would give me pleasure to see you both dance you spoke of the balls at your cousins have occasionally attended them but they would not altogether suit us now the fatigue would be too much for your aunt i believe we must not think of a ball a dance at home would be more eligible and if ah my dear sir thomas interrupted mrs i knew what was coming i knew what you were going to say if dear were at home or dearest mrs at to afford a reason an occasion for such a thing you would be tempted to give the young people a dance at i know you would if they were at home to grace the ball a ball you would have this very christmas thank your uncle william thank your uncle my daughters replied sir thomas gravely have their pleasures at and i hope are very happy but the dance which i think of giving at will be for their cousins could we be all assembled our satisfaction would undoubtedly be more complete but the absence of some is not to the others of amusement mrs had not another word to say she saw decision in his looks and her surprise and vexation required some minutes silence to be settled into composure a at such a time his daughters absent and herself not consulted there was comfort however soon at hand she must be the of everything lady would of course be spared all thought and exertion and it would all fall upon her she should have to do the honors of the evening and this reflection quickly restored so much of her good humor as enabled her to join in with the others before their happiness and thanks were all expressed william and did in their different ways look and speak as much grateful pleasure in the promised ball as sir thomas could desire s feelings were for the other two his father had never conferred a favor or shown a kindness more to his satisfaction was perfectly and and liad no objections to sir thomas engaged for its her yery trouble and she assured him that she was not st all afraid of the trouble indeed she could not imagine there would be any mrs was ready with her suggestions as to the rooms he would think to be used but found it	26
all and when she would have and hinted about the day it that the day was settled too sir thomas had been amusing himself with a very complete outline of the business and as soon as she would listen quietly could read his list of the families to im invited from whom he calculated with all necessary allowance for the of uie notice to collect young people enough to form twelve or couple and could detail the considerations which had induced him to fix on the d as the most eligible day william was required to be at m the th the d would therefore be the last day of his visit but where tiie days were so few it would be unwise to fix on any earlier mrs i was obliged to be satisfied with thinking just the same and with having been on the point of proposing the d herself as by far the best day for the purpose the ball was now a settled thing and before the evening a proclaimed thing to all whom it invitations were sent with and many a young lady went to bed that night her head full of happy cares as well as to her the cares were sometimes almost beyond the happiness for young and inexperienced with means of choice and no in her own taste the how she should he dressed was a point ci painful solicitude and the almost solitary ornament in her possession a very pretty cross which william had thought her from was the greatest distress of all for she had nothing hut a bit of to fasten it to and though she had worn it in that manner once would it be at such a time in the midst of all the rich ornaments whidi she supposed all the other young ladies would appear in and yet not to wear it i william had wanted to buy her a gold chain too but the purchase had been beyond his means and therefore not to wear the cross might be him these were anxious considerations enough to sober her spirits even under the prospect of a ball given principally for her gratification the preparations meanwhile went on and lady continued to sit on her sofa without any from them she had some extra visits from the housekeeper and her maid was rather hurried in making up a new dress for her sir thomas gave orders and mrs ran about but all this gave her no trouble and as she had foreseen there was in fact no trouble in the business was at this time particularly full of his mind being deeply in the consideration of two important events now at hand which to fix his fate in life and matrimony events of such a serious character as to make the ball which would be very quickly fare followed bj one of them appear of less in his s than in those of any other person in the house on the d he was going to a friend near in the same situation as himself and they were to receive in the course of christmas week half his destiny would then be determined but the other half might not be so smoothly his duties would be established but the wife who was to share and and reward those duties might yet be he knew his own mind but he was not always perfectly assured of knowing miss s there were points on which they did not quite agree there were moments in which she did not seem and though trusting altogether to her affection so far as to be resolved almost resolved on bringing it to a decision within a very short time as soon as the variety of business before him were arranged and he knew what he had to offer her he had many anxious feelings many doubting hours as to the result his conviction of her regard for him was sometimes very strong he could look back on a long course of encouragement and she was as perfect in disinterested attachment as in everything else but at other times doubt and alarm with his hopes and when he thought of her acknowledged for privacy and retirement her decided preference of a london life what could he expect but a determined unless it were an acceptance even more to be demanding such sacrifices of situation and employment on his side as conscience must forbid the issue of all depended on one question did she love him well enough to forego what had used to be essential points did she love him well enough to make them no longer essential and this question which he was continually repeating to himself though answered with a yes had its no miss was soon to leave and on this circumstance the no and the yes had been very recently in he had seen her eyes sparkle as she spoke of the dear friend s letter which claimed a long visit from her in london and of the kindness of in engaging to remain where he was till january that he might convey her thither he had heard her speak of the pleasure of such a journey with an animation which had no in every tone but this had occurred on the first day of its being settled within the first hour of the burst of such enjoyment when nothing but the friends she was to visit was before her he had since heard her express herself differently with other feelings more feelings he had heard her tell mrs grant that she should leave her with regret that she began to believe neither the friends nor the pleasures she was going to were worth those she left behind and that though she felt she must go and knew she should enjoy herself when once away she was already looking forward to being at	26
again was there not a yes in all this with such matters to over and arrange and re arrange could not on his own account very much of the evening die rest of the were looking forward to with a more equal d of strong interest independent of his two cousins enjoyment in it the evening was to him of no higher value than any other appointed meeting the two families might he in every meeting there was a hope of receiving further confirmation of miss s attachment hut the whirl of a hall room perhaps was not particularly favorable to the excitement or expression of serious feelings to engage her early for the two first dances was all the command of individual happiness which he felt in his power and the only preparation for the hall which he could enter into in spite of all that was passing around him on the subject om morning till night thursday was the day of the ball and on wednesday morning still unable to satisfy herself as to what she ought to wear determined to seek counsel of the more enlightened and apply to mrs grant and her sister whose acknowledged taste would certainly bear her and as and william were gone to and she had reason to think mi likewise out she walked down to the without much fear of wanting an opportunity for private discussion and the privacy of such a discussion was a most important part of it to being more than half ashamed of her own solicitude she met miss within a few yards of the just setting out to call on her and as it seemed to her that her friend though obliged to insist on back was unwilling to lose hei walk she explained her business at once and observed that it she would be so kind as to give her opinion it might be all talked over as well without doors as within miss appeared gratified by the application and alter a moment s thought urged s returning with her in a much more cordial manner than before and proposed their going up into her room where they might have a comfortable without disturbing dr and mrs grant who were together in the drawing room it was just the plan to suit and with a great deal of gratitude on her side for such ready and kind attention they proceeded indoors and upstairs and were soon deep in the interesting subject miss pleased by the appeal gave her all her best judgment and taste made everything easy by her suggestions and tried to make everything agreeable by her encouragement the dress being settled in all its parts but what shall you have by way of said miss shall not you wear your brother s cross and as she spoke she was a small parcel which had observed in her hand when they met acknowledged her wishes and doubts on this point she did not know how either to wear the cross or to refrain from wearing it she was answered by having a small box placed before her and being requested to choose from among several gold chains and such had been the parcel with which miss was provided and such the object of her intended visit and in the kind est manner she now urged s taking one for the cross and to keep for her sake saying everything she could think of to the scruples which were making start back at first with a look of horror at the proposal you see what a collection i have said she more by half than i ever use or think of i do not offer them as new i offer nothing but an old you must forgive the liberty and oblige me still resisted and from her heart the gift was too valuable but miss and argued the case with so much affectionate earnestness through all the heads of william and the cross and the ball and herself as to be finally successful found herself obliged to yield that she might not be accused of pride or indifference or some other and having with modest reluctance given her consent proceeded to make the selection she looked and looked longing to know which might be least valuable and was determined in her choice at last by there was one more frequently placed before her eyes than the rest it was of gold prettily worked and though would have preferred a longer and a chain as more adapted for her purpose she hoped in fixing on this to be choosing what miss least wished to keep miss smiled her perfect approbation and hastened to complete the gift by putting the round her and making her see how well it looked had not a word to say against its and ex park what remained of her scruples was exceedingly pleased with an acquisition so very she would rather perhaps have been obliged to some other person but this was an unworthy feeling miss had anticipated her wants with a kindness which proved her a real friend when i wear this i shall always think of you said she and feel how very kind you were you must think of somebody else too when you wear that replied miss you must think of henry for it was his choice in the first place he gave it to me and with the i make over to you all the duty of remembering the original it is to be a family the sister is not to be in your mind without bringing the brother too in great astonishment and confusion would have returned the present instantly to take what had been the gift of another person of a brother too impossible i it must not be and with an eagerness and embarrassment quite to her companion she laid down the again on its cotton and seemed	26
from him she might never receive another it was impossible that she ever should receive another so perfectly gratifying in the occasion and the style two lines more had never fallen from the pen of the most distinguished author never more completely blessed the of the the enthusiasm of a woman s love is even beyond the s to her the handwriting itself independent of anything it may convey is a never were such characters cut by any other human being as s commonest handwriting this specimen written in haste as it was had not a fault and there was a felicity in the flow of the first four words in the arrangement of my very dear which she could have looked at forever having regulated her thoughts and ed her feelings by this happy mixture of reason and weakness she was able in due time to go down and resume her usual near her aunt and pay her the usual without any apparent want of spirits thursday to hope and enjoyment came and opened with more kindness to than such self willed days often for soon after breakfast a very friendly note was brought from mr to william stating that as he found himself obliged to go to london on the morrow for a few days he could not help trying to procure a companion and therefore hoped that if william could make up his mind to leave half a day earlier than had been proposed he would accept a place in his carriage mr meant to be in town by his uncle s late dinner hour and william was invited to dine with him at the admiral s the proposal was a very pleasant one to william himself who enjoyed the idea of travelling post with four horses and such a good agreeable friend and in it to going up with was saying at once everything in favor of its happiness and dignity which his imagination could suggest and from a different motive was exceedingly pleased for the original plan was that william should go up by the mail from the following night which would not have allowed him an hour s rest before he must have got into a coach and though this offer of mr s would rob her of many hours of his company she was too happy in having william spared from the fatigue of such a journey to think of anything else sir thomas approved of it for another reason his nephew s introduction to admiral might be of service the admiral he believed had interest upon the whole it was a very joyous note s spirits lived on it half the morning some accession of pleasure from its writer being himself to go away as for the ball so near at hand she had too many and fears to have half the enjoyment in anticipation which she ought to have had or must have been supposed to have by the many young ladies looking forward to the same event in situations more at ease but under circumstances of less novelty less interest less peculiar gratification than would be attributed to her miss price known only by name to half the people invited was now to make her first appearance and must be regarded as the queen of the evening who could be happier than miss price but miss price had not been brought up to the trade of coming out and had she known in what light this hall was in general considered respecting her it would very much have lessened her comfort hy increasing the fears she already had of doing wrong and looked at to dance without much or any extraordinary fatigue to have strength and partners for half the evening to dance a little with and not a great deal with mr to see william enjoy himself and he to keep away from her aunt was the height of her and seemed to comprehend her greatest of happiness as these were the of her hopes they could not always prevail and in the course of a long morning spent principally with her two she was often under the influence of much less sanguine views william determined to make this last day a day of thorough enjoyment was out shooting she had too much reason to suppose was at the and left alone to hear the worrying of mrs who was cross the housekeeper would have her own way with the supper and whom she could not avoid though the housekeeper might was worn down at last to think everything an evil to the hall and when sent off with a parting worry to dress moved as languidly towards her own room and felt as of happiness as if she had heen allowed no share in it as she walked slowly upstairs she thought of yesterday it had heen about the same hour that she had returned from the and found in the east room suppose i were to find him there again to day said she to herself in a fond indulgence of fancy said a voice at that moment near her starting and looking np she saw across the she had just reached himself standing at the head of a different staircase he came towards her you look tired and you have been walking too far no i have not been out at all then you have had within doors which are worse you had better have gone out not liking to complain found it easiest to make no answer and though he looked at her with his usual kindness she believed he had soon ceased to think of her countenance he did not appear in spirits something with her was probably amiss they proceeded upstairs together their rooms being on the same floor above i come from dr grant s said presently you may guess my errand there and he looked so conscious that could think	26
but of one errand which turned her too sick for speech i wished to engage miss for the two first dances was the explanation that followed and brought to life again her as she found she was expected to speak to utter something like an inquiry as to the result yes he answered she is engaged but with a smile that did not sit easy she says it is to be the last time that she ever will dance park with me she is not serious i think i hope i am sure she is not serious hut i would rather not hear it she never has danced with a clergyman she says and she never will for my own sake i could wish there had been no ball just at i mean not this very week this very day to morrow i leave home struggled for speech and said i am very sorry that anything has occurred to distress you this ought to be a day of pleasure my uncle meant it so oh yes yes and it will be a day of pleasure it will all end right i am only vexed for a moment in fact it is not that i consider the ball as ill timed what does it signify stopping her by taking her hand and speaking low and seriously you know what all this means you see how it is and could tell me perhaps better than i could tell you how and why i am vexed let me talk to you a little you are a kind kind listener i have been pained by her manner this morning and cannot get the better of it i know her disposition to be as sweet and as your own but the influence of her former companions makes her seem gives to her conversation to her professed opinions sometimes a tinge of wrong she does not think evil but she speaks it speaks it in and though i know it to be it me to the soul the effect of education said gently could not but agree to it yes that uncle and aunt they have injured the finest j mind for sometimes i own to you it does appear more than manner it appears as if the mind itself was imagined this to be an appeal to her judgment and therefore after a moment s consideration said if you only want me as a listener cousin i will be as useful as i can but i am not qualified for an adviser do not ask advice of me i am not competent you are right to protest against such an office but you need not be afraid it is a subject on which i should never ask advice it is the sort of subject on which it had better never be asked and few i imagine do ask it but when they want to be influenced against their conscience i only want to talk to you one thing more the liberty but take care how you talk to me do not tell me anything now which hereafter you may be sorry for the time may come the color rushed into her cheeks as she spoke dearest cried pressing her hand to his lips with almost as much warmth as if it had been miss s you are all considerate thought but it is unnecessary here the time will never come no such time as you allude to will ever come i begin to think it most improbable the chances grow less and less and even if it should there will be nothing to be remembered by either you or me that we need be afraid of for i can never be ashamed of my own scruples and if they are removed it must be by changes that will only raise her character the more by the recollection of the faults she once had you are the only being upon earth to whom i should say what i have said but you have always known my opinion of her you can bear me witness that i have never been blinded how many a time have we talked over her little errors you need not fear me i have almost given up every serious idea of her but i must be a indeed if whatever me i could think of your kindness and sympathy without the gratitude he had said enough to shake the experience of eighteen he had said enough to give some happier feelings than she had lately known and with a brighter look she answered yes cousin i am convinced that you would be incapable of anything else though perhaps some might not i cannot be afraid of hearing anything you wish to say do not check yourself tell me whatever you like they were now on the second floor and the appearance of a prevented any further conversation for s present comfort it was concluded perhaps at the happiest moment had he been able to talk another ave minutes there is no saying that he might not have talked away all miss s faults and his own but as it was they parted with looks on his side of grateful affection and with some very precious sensations on hers she had felt nothing like it for hours since the first joy from mr s note to william had worn away she had been in a state absolutely the reverse there had been no comfort around no hope within her now everything was smiling william s good fortune returned again upon her mind and seemed of greater value than at first the ball too such an ing of pleasure before her i it was now a real animation and she began to dress for it with much of the happy flutter which belongs to a ball all went well she did not dislike	26
the moment of beginning was now growing seriously near and she so little understood her own claims as to think that if mr had not asked her she must have been the last to be sought after and should have received a partner only through a series of inquiry and bustle and interference which would have been terrible but at the game time there was a in his manner of asking her which she did not like and she saw his eye glancing for a moment at her with a smile she thought there was a smile which made her blush and feel wretched and though there was no second glance to disturb her though his object seemed then to be only quietly agreeable she could not get the better of her embarrassment heightened as it was by the idea of his perceiving it and had no composure till he turned away to some one else then she could gradually rise up to the genuine satisfaction of having a partner a voluntary partner secured against the dancing began when the company were moving into the she found herself for the first time near miss whose eyes and smiles were immediately and more directed as her brother s had been and who was beginning to speak on the subject when anxious to get the story over hastened to give the explanation of the second the real chain miss listened and all her intended compliments and to were forgotten she felt only one thing and her eyes bright as they had been before showing they could yet be brighter she exclaimed with eager pleasure did he did park that was like himself no other man would have thought of it i honor him expression and she looked around as if longing to tell him so he was not near he was attending a party of ladies out of the room and mrs grant coming up to the two girls and taking an arm of each they followed with the rest s heart sunk but there was no leisure for thinking long even of miss s feelings they were in the ball room the were playing and her mind was in a flutter that forbade its fixing on anything serious she must watch the general arrangements and see how everything was done in a few minutes sir thomas came to her and asked if she were engaged and the yes sir to mr was exactly what he had intended to hear mr was not far o e sir thomas brought him to her saying something which discovered to that she was to lead the way and open the ball an idea that had never occurred to her before whenever she had thought on the of the evening it had been as a matter of course that would begin with miss and the impression was so strong that though her uncle spoke the contrary she could not help an exclamation of a hint of her an entreaty even to be excused to be urging her opinion against sir thomas s was a proof of the extremity of the case but such was her horror at the first suggestion that she could actually look him in the face and say she hoped it might be settled otherwise in vain however sir thomas smiled tried to encourage her and then looked too serious and said too decidedly it must be so my dear for her to hazard another word and she found herself the next conducted by mr to the top of the and standing there to be joined by the rest of the dancers couple after couple as they were formed she could hardly believe it to be placed above so many elegant young women the distinction was too great it was treating her like her cousins and her thoughts flew to those absent cousins with most and truly tender regret that they were not at home to take their own place in the room and have their share of a pleasure which would have been so very delightful to them so often as she had heard them wish for a ball at home as the greatest of all i and to have them away when it was given and for her to be opening the ball and with mr too i she hoped they would not envy her that distinction now but when she looked back to the state of things in the autumn to what they had all been to each other when once dancing in that house before the present arrangement was almost more than she could understand herself the ball began it was rather honor than happiness to for the first dance at least her partner was in excellent spirits and tried to impart them to her but she was a great deal too much frightened to have any enjoyment till she could suppose herself no longer looked at young pretty and gentle however she had no that were not as good as graces and there were few per present that were not disposed to praise her she was attractive she was modest she was sir thomas s niece and she was soon said to be admired by mr it was enough to give her general favor sir thomas himself was watching her progress down the dance with much complacency he was proud of his niece and without all her personal beauty as mrs seemed to do to her to he was pleased with himself for having supplied everything else education and manners she owed to him miss saw much of sir thomas s thoughts as he stood and having in spite of all his wrongs towards her a general prevailing desire of herself to him took an opportunity of stepping aside to say something agreeable of her praise was warm and he received it as she could wish joining in it as far as	26
discretion and politeness and of speech would allow and certainly appearing to greater advantage on the subject than his lady did soon afterwards when mary perceiving her on a sofa very near turned round before she began to dance to compliment her on miss price s looks yes she does look very well was lady s placid reply helped her dress i sent to her not but that she was really pleased to have admired but she was so much more struck with her own kindness in sending to her that she could not get it out oi her head miss knew mrs too well to park think of gratifying of to her it was as the occasion ma am how much we want dear mrs and to night and mrs paid her with as many smiles and courteous words as she had time for amid so much occupation as she found for herself in making up card tables giving hints to sir thomas and trying to move all the to a better part of the room miss most towards herself in her intentions to please she meant to be giving her little heart a happy flutter and filling her with sensations of delightful self consequence and s still thought she must be doing so when she went to her after the two first dances and said with a significant look perhaps you can tell me why my brother goes to town to morrow he says he has business there but will not tell me what the first time he ever denied me his confidence but this is what we all come to all are sooner or later now i must apply to you for information pray what is henry going for protested her ignorance as steadily as her embarrassment allowed well then replied miss laughing i must suppose it to be purely for the pleasure of conveying your brother and talking of you by the way was confused but it was the confusion of discontent while miss wondered she did not smile and thought her over anxious or thought her odd or thought her anything rather park than insensible of pleasure in henry s attentions had a good deal of enjoyment in the course of the evening but henry s attentions had very little to do with it she would much rather not have been asked by him again so very soon and she wished she had not been obliged to suspect that his previous inquiries of mrs about the supper hour were all for the sake of securing her at that part of the evening but it was not to be avoided he made her feel that she was the object of all though she could not say that it was done that there was or in his manner and sometimes when he talked of william he was really not and showed even a warmth of heart which did him credit but still his attentions made no part of her satisfaction she was happy whenever she looked at william and saw how perfectly he was enjoying himself in every five minutes that she could walk about with him and hear his account of his partners she was happy in knowing herself admired and she was happy in having the two dances with still to look forward to during the greatest part of the evening her hand being so eagerly sought after that her indefinite engagement with him was in continual perspective she was happy even when they did take place but not from any flow of spirits on his side or any such expressions of tender gallantry as had blessed the morning his mind was and her happiness sprung from being the friend with whom it could find repose i am worn out with civility said he i have been talking all night and witli nothing to bay bnt with yon there may be peace you will not want to be talked to let us have the luxury of silence would hardly even speak her a weariness arising probably in great measure from the same feelings which he had acknowledged in the morning was peculiarly to be respected and they went down their two dances together with such sober tranquillity as might satisfy any on that sir thomas had been bringing up no wife for his younger son the evening had afforded little pleasure miss had been in gay spirits when they first danced together but it was not her that could do him good it rather sank than raised his comfort and afterwards for he found himself still impelled to seek her again she had absolutely pained him by her manner of speaking of the profession to which he was now on the point of belonging they had talked and they had been silent he had reasoned she had and they had parted at last with mutual vexation not able to refrain entirely from observing them had seen enough to be tolerably satisfied it was barbarous to be happy when was suffering yet some happiness must and would arise from the very conviction that he did suffer when her two dances with him were over her inclination and strength for more were pretty well at an end and sir thomas having seen her rather walk than dance down the set breathless and with her hand at her side gave his orders for her sitting down entirely from that time mr sat down likewise poor cried william coming for a moment to visit her and working away his part ner s fan as if for life how soon she is knocked up i why the sport is hut just i hope we shall keep it up these two hours how can you be tired so soon so soon my good friend said sir thomas producing his watch with all necessary caution it is three o clock and your sister is not used to these	26
sort of hours well then you shall not get up tomorrow before i go sleep as long as you can and never mind me oh william what did she think of being up before you set off oh yes sir cried rising eagerly from her seat to be nearer her uncle i must get up and breakfast with him it will be the last time you know the last morning you had better not he is to have and be gone by half past nine mr i think you call for him at half past nine was too urgent however and had too many tears in her eyes for denial and it ended in a gracious well well which was permission yes half past nine said to william as the latter was leaving them and i shall be punctual for there will be no kind sister to get up for me and in a lower tone to i shall have only a desolate house to hurry from your brother will find my ideas of time and his own very different to morrow after a short consideration sir thomas asked to join the early breakfast party in that house instead of eating alone he should himself be of it and the readiness with which his invitation was accepted convinced him that the suspicions whence he must confess to himself this very ball had in great measure sprung were well founded mr was in love with he had a pleasing anticipation of what would be his meanwhile did not thank him for what he had just done she had hoped to have william all to herself the last morning it would have been an unspeakable indulgence but though her wishes were there was no spirit of murmuring within her on the contrary she was so totally unused to have her pleasure consulted or to have anything take place at all in the way she could desire that she was more disposed to wonder and rejoice in having carried her point so far than to at the which followed shortly afterwards sir thomas was again interfering a little with her inclination by her to go immediately to bed advise was his word but it was the advice of absolute power and she had only to rise and with mr s very cordial pass quietly away stopping at the entrance door like the lady of hall one moment and no more to view the happy scene and take a last look at the five or six determined couple who were still hard at work and then creeping slowly up the principal staircase park pursued by the ceaseless country dance feverish with hopes and fears soup and sore footed and fatigued restless and agitated yet feeling in spite of everything that a ball was indeed delightful in thus sending her away sir thomas perhaps might not be thinking merely of her health it might occur to him that mr had been sitting by her long enough or he might mean to recommend her as a wife by showing her chapter v thb ball was over and the breakfast was soon over too the last kiss was given and william was gone mr had as he foretold been very punctual and short and pleasant had been the meal after seeing william to the last moment walked back into the breakfast room with a very heart to grieve over the melancholy change and there her uncle kindly left her to cry in peace perhaps that the deserted chair of each young man might exercise her tender enthusiasm and that the remaining cold pork bones and in william s plate might but divide her feelings with the broken egg shells in mr s she sat and cried con as her uncle intended but it was con and no other william was gone and she now felt as if she had wasted half his visit in idle cares and selfish with him s disposition was such that she could even think of her aunt in the and of her own small house without herself for some little want of attention to her when they had been last together much less could her feelings her of having done and said and thought everything park by william that was due to him for a whole fortnight it was a melancholy day soon after the second breakfast bade them good by for a week and mounted his horse for and then all were gone nothing remained of last night but which she had nobody to share in she talked to her aunt she must talk to somebody of the ball but her aunt had seen so little of what had passed and had so little curiosity that it was heavy work lady was not certain of anybody s dress or anybody s place at supper but her own she could not recollect what it was that she had heard about one of the miss or what it was that lady had noticed in she was not sure whether colonel hai risen had been talking of mr or of william when he said he was the finest young man in the room somebody had whispered something to her she had forgot to ask sir thomas what it could be and these were her longest speeches and communications the rest was only a languid yes yes very well did you did he i did not see that i should not know one from the other this was very bad it was only better than mrs s sharp answers would have been but she being gone home with all the to nurse a sick maid there was peace and good humor in their little party though it could not boast much beside the evening was heavy like the day i cannot think what is the matter with me said vol n lady when the tea things	26
for angry as she was with for to his own notions and acting on them in defiance of her and she had been so angry that they had hardly parted friends at the ball she could not help thinking of him continually when absent dwelling on his merit and affection and longing again for the almost daily meetings they lately had his absence was long he should not have planned such an absence he should not park have left for a week when her own departure from was so near then she began to blame herself she wished she had not spoken so warmly in their last conversation she was afraid she had used some strong some contemptuous expressions in speaking of the clergy and that should not have been it was ill bred it was wrong she wished such words with all her heart her vexation did not end with the week all this was bad but she had still more to feel when friday came round again and brought no when saturday came and still no and when through the slight communication with the other family which sunday produced she learned that he had actually written home to his return having promised to remain some days longer with his friend if she had felt impatience and regret before if she had been sorry for what she said and feared its too strong effect on him she now felt and feared it all more she had moreover to contend with one disagreeable emotion entirely new to her jealousy his friend mr had sisters he might find them attractive but at any rate his staying away at a time when according to all preceding plans she was to remove to london meant something that she could not bear had henry returned as he talked of doing at the end of three or four days she should now have been leaving it became absolutely necessary for her to get to and try to learn something more she could not live any longer in solitary wretchedness and she made her way to the park through difficulties of walking which she had deemed a week before for the chance of hearing a little in addition for the sake of at least hearing his name the first half hour was lost for and lady were together and unless she had to herself she could hope for nothing but at last lady left the room and then almost immediately miss thus began with a voice as well regulated as she could and how do you like your cousin s staying away so long being the only young person at home i consider you as the greatest sufferer you must miss him does his staying longer surprise you i do not know said hesitatingly yes i had not particularly expected it perhaps he will always stay longer than he talks of it is the general way all young men do he did not the only time he went to see mr before he finds the house more agreeable now he is a very a very pleasing young man himself and i cannot help being rather concerned at not seeing him again before i go to london as will now undoubtedly be the case i am looking for henry every day and as soon as he comes there will be nothing to detain me at i should like to have seen him once more i confess but you must give my compliments to him yes i think it must be compliments is there not park a something wanted miss price in our language a something compliments and and love to suit the sort of friendly acquaintance we have had together so many months acquaintance but compliments may be sufficient here was his letter a long one does he give you much account of what he is doing is it christmas that he is staying for i only heard a part of the letter it was to my uncle but i believe it was very short indeed i am sure it was but a few lines all that i heard was that his friend had pressed him to stay longer and that he had agreed to do so a few days longer or some days longer i am not quite sure which oh if he wrote to his father but i thought it might have been to lady or you but if he wrote to his father no wonder he was who could write chat to sir thomas if he had written to you there would have been more particulars you would have heard of balls and parties he would have sent you a description of everything and everybody how many miss are there three grown up are they musical i do not at all know i never heard that is the first question you know said miss trying to appear gay and which every woman who plays herself is sure to ask another but it is very foolish to ask questions about any young ladies about any three sisters just grown up for one knows with out being told exactly what they are all very accomplished and pleasing and one very pretty there is a beauty in every family it is a regular thing two play on tl e and one on the harp and all sing or would sing if they were taught or sing all the better for not being taught or something like it i know nothing of the miss said calmly you know nothing and you care less as people say never did tone express indifference indeed how can one care for those one has never seen well when your cousin comes back he will find very quiet all the noisy ones gone your brother and mine and myself i do not like the idea of leaving	26
mrs grant now the time draws near she does not like my going felt obliged to speak you cannot doubt your being missed by many said she you will be very much missed miss turned her eye on her as if wanting to hear or see more and then said oh yes missed as every noisy evil is missed when it is taken away that is there is a great difference felt but i am not fishing don t compliment me if i am missed it will appear i may be discovered by those who want to see me i shall not be in any doubtful or distant or region now could not bring herself to speak and miss was disappointed for she had hoped to hear some pleasant assurance of her park power from one who she thought most know and her spirits were clouded again the miss said she soon afterwards suppose you were to have one of the miss settled at how should you like it stranger things have happened i dare say they are trying for it they are quite in the right for it would he a very pretty for them i do not at all wonder or them it is s duty to do as well for themselves as they can sir thomas s son is and now he is in their own line their father is a clergyman and their is a clergyman and they are all together he is their lawful property he fairly belongs to them you don t speak miss price you don t speak but honestly now do not you rather expect it than otherwise no said stoutly i do not expect it at all not at all cried miss with alacrity i wonder at that but i dare say you know exactly i always imagine you are perhaps you do not think him likely to marry at all or not at present no i do not said softly hoping she did not either in the belief or the acknowledgment of it her companion looked at her keenly and gathering greater spirit from the blush soon produced from such a look only said he is best off as he and turned the subject chapter vi miss s uneasiness was lightened by conversation and she walked home again in spirits which might have defied almost another week of the same small party in the same had weather had they been put to the proof but as that very evening brought her brother down from london again in quite or more than quite his usual cheerfulness she had nothing further to try her own his still refusing to tell her what he had gone for was but the promotion of a day before it might have irritated but now it was a pleasant joke suspected only of concealing something planned as a pleasant surprise to herself and the next day did bring a surprise to her henry had said he should just go and ask the how they did and be back in ten minutes but he was gone above an hour and when his sister who had been waiting for him to walk with her in the garden met him at last most impatiently in the sweep and cried out my dear henry where can you possibly have been all this time he had only to say that he had been sitting with lady and sitting with them an hour and a half i claimed mary but this was only the beginning of her surprise yes mary said he drawing her arm within his and walking along the sweep as if not knowing where he was i could not get away sooner looked so lovely i am determined mary my mind is entirely made up will it astonish you no you must be aware that i am quite determined to marry price the surprise was now complete for in spite of whatever his consciousness might suggest a suspicion of his having any such views had never entered his sister s imagination and she looked so truly the astonishment she felt that he was obliged to repeat what he had said and more fully and more solemnly the conviction of his determination once admitted it was not unwelcome there was even pleasure with the surprise mary was in a state of mind to rejoice in a connection with the family and to be not displeased with her brother s marrying a little beneath him yes mary was henry s concluding assurance i am fairly caught you know with what idle designs i began but this is the end of them i have i flatter myself made no progress in her affections but my own are entirely fixed lucky lucky girl cried mary as soon as she could speak what a match for her my dearest henry this must be my first feeling but my second which you shall have as sincerely is that i approve your choice from my soul and foresee your happiness as heartily as i wish and desire it you will have a sweet little wife all park and devotion exactly what you deserve wliat an amazing match for her mrs often talks of her luck what will she say now the delight of all the family indeed and she has some true friends in it how they will rejoice but tell me all it talk to me forever when did you begin to think seriously about her nothing could be more impossible than to answer such a question though nothing be more agreeable than to have it asked how the pleasing plague had stolen on him he could not say and before he had expressed the same sentiment with a little of words three times over his sister eagerly interrupted him with ah my dear henry and this is what took you to london this was	26
your business you chose to consult the admiral before you made up your mind but this he stoutly denied he knew his uncle too well to consult him on any matrimonial scheme the admiral hated marriage and thought it never in a young man of independent fortune when is known to him continued henry he will on her she is exactly the woman to do away every prejudice of such a man as the admiral for she is exactly such a woman as he thinks does not exist in the world she is the very impossibility he would describe if indeed he has now delicacy of language enough to his own ideas but till it is absolutely settled settled beyond all interference he shall know nothing of the matter no mary you are quite mistaken you have not discovered my business yet well well i am satisfied i know now to whom it must relate and am in no hurry for the rest price wonderful quite wonderful that should have done so much for that you should have found your fate in but you are quite right you could not have chosen better there is not a better girl in the world and you do not want for fortune and as to her connections they are more than good the are undoubtedly some of the first people in this country she is niece to sir thomas that will be enough for the world but go on go on teu me more what are your plans does she know her own happiness no what are you waiting for for for very little more than opportunity mary she is not like her cousins but i think i shall not ask in vain oh no you cannot were you even less pleasing supposing her not to love you already of which however i can have little doubt you would be safe the gentleness and gratitude of her disposition would secure her all your own immediately from my soul i do not think she would marry you without love that is if there is a girl in the world capable of being by ambition i can suppose it her but ask her to love you and she will never have the heart to refuse park as soon as her eagerness could rest in silence he was as happy to tell as she could be to listen and a conversation followed almost as deeply interesting to her as to himself though he had in fact nothing to relate but his own sensations nothing to dwell on but s charms s beauty of face and figure s graces of manner and goodness of heart were the theme the gentleness modesty and sweetness of her character were warmly on that sweetness which makes so essential a part of every woman s worth in the judgment of man that though he sometimes loves where it is not he can never believe it absent her temper he had good reason to depend on and to praise he had often seen it tried was there one of the family excepting who had not in some way or other continually exercised her patience and forbearance her affections were evidently strong to see her with her brother what could more delightfully prove that the warmth of her heart was equal to its gentleness what could be more encouraging to a man who had her love in view then her understanding was beyond every suspicion quick and clear and her manners were the mirror of her o vn modest and elegant mind nor was this all henry had too much sense not to feel the worth of good principles in a wife though he was too little accustomed to serious reflection to know them by their proper name but when he talked of her having such a and regularity of conduct such a high notion of honor and such an of decorum as might warrant any man in the fullest dependence on her faith and integrity he expressed what was inspired by the knowledge of her being well and religious i could so wholly and absolutely confide in her said he and that is what i want well might his sister believing as she really did that his opinion of price was scarcely beyond her merits rejoice in her prospects the more i think of it she cried the more am i convinced that you are doing quite right and though i should never have selected price as the girl most likely to attach you i am now persuaded she is the very one to make you happy your wicked project upon her peace turns out a clever thought indeed you will both find your good in it it was bad very bad in me against such a creature but i did not know her then and she shall have no reason to lament the hour that first put it into my head i will make her very happy mary happier than she has ever yet been herself or ever seen anybody else i will not take her from i shall let and rent a place in this neighborhood perhaps lodge i shall let a seven years lease of i am sure of an excellent tenant at half a word i could name three people now who would give me my own terms and thank me cried mary settle in that is pleasant then we shall be all together when she had spoken it she recollected herself and wished it but there was no need of confusion for her brother saw her only as the supposed of and replied but to invite her in the kindest manner to his own house and to claim the best right in her you must give us more than half your time said he i cannot admit mrs grant to have an equal claim with and myself for	26
we shall both have a right in you will be so truly your sister mary had only to be grateful and give general assurances but she was now very fully to be the guest of neither brother nor sister many months longer you will divide your year between london and yes that s right and in london of course a house of your own and no longer with the admiral my dearest henry the advantage to you of getting away from the admiral before your manners are hurt by the of his before you have contracted any of his foolish opinions or learned to sit over your dinner as if it were the best blessing of life you are not sensible of the gain for your regard for him has blinded you but in my estimation your marrying early may be the saving of you to have seen you grow like the admiral in word or deed look or gesture would have broken my heart well well we do not think quite alike here the admiral has his faults but he is a very good man and has been more than a father to me few vol ii fathers would have let me have my own way half so much you must not prejudice against him i must have them love one another mary refrained from saying what she felt that there could not be two persons in existence whose characters and manners were less time would discover it to him but she could not help this reflection on the admiral henry i think so highly of price that if i could suppose the next mrs would have half the reason which my poor ill used aunt had to the very name i would prevent the marriage if possible but i know you i know that a wife you loved would be the happiest of women and that even when you ceased to love she would yet find in you the liberality and good breeding of a gentleman the impossibility of not doing everything in the world to make price happy or of ceasing to love price was of course the of his eloquent answer had you seen her this morning mary he continued attending with such sweetness and patience to all the demands of her aunt s stupidity working with her and for her her color beautifully heightened as she over the work then returning to her seat to finish a note which she was previously engaged in writing for that stupid woman s service and all this with such gentleness so much as if it were a matter of course that she was not to have a moment at her own command her hair arranged as neatly as it always is and one little curl falling forward as she wrote which she now and then shook back and in the midst of all this still speaking at intervals to me or listening and as if she liked to listen to what i said had you seen her so mary you would not have implied the of her power over my heart ever ceasing my dearest henry cried mary stopping short and smiling in his face how glad i am to see you so much in love it quite delights me but what will mrs and say i care neither what they say nor what they feel they will now see what sort of woman it is that can attach me that can attach a man of sense i wish the discovery may do them any good and they will now see their cousin treated as she ought to be and i wish they may be heartily ashamed of their own abominable neglect and they will be angry he added after a moment s silence and in a cooler tone mrs will be very angry it will be a bitter to her that is like other bitter it will have two moments ill flavor and then be swallowed and forgotten for i am not such a as to suppose her feelings more lasting than other women s though i was the object of them yes mary my will feel a difference indeed a daily difference in the behavior of every being who approaches her and it will be the completion of my happiness to know that i am the of it that i am the person to give the consequence so justly her due now she is dependent helpless neglected forgotten nay henry not by all not forgotten by all not or forgotten her cousin never forgets her true i believe he is generally speaking kind to her and so is sir thomas in his way but it is the way of a rich superior arbitrary uncle what can sir thomas and together do what do they do for her happiness comfort honor and dignity in the world to what i shall do chapter vn was at park again the next mornings and at an earlier hour than common visiting the two ladies were together in the breakfast room and fortunately for him lady was on the very point of it as he entered she was almost at the door and not choosing by any means to take so much trouble in vain she still went on after a civil reception a short sentence about being waited for and a let sir thomas know to the servant henry to have her go bowed and watched her off and without losing another moment turned instantly to and taking out some letters said with a most animated look i must acknowledge myself infinitely obliged to any creature who gives me such an opportunity of seeing you alone i have been wishing it more than you can have any idea knowing as i do what your feelings as a sister are i could hardly have borne that any one in the house should share with you in the first knowledge	26
of the news i now bring he is made your brother is a lieutenant i have the infinite satisfaction of you on your brother s promotion here are the letters which announce it this moment come to hand you will perhaps like to see them could not speak but he did not want her to speak to see the expression of her eyes the change of her complexion the progress of her feelings their doubt confusion and felicity was enough she took the letters as he gave them the first was from the admiral to inform his nephew in a few words of his having succeeded in the object he had undertaken the promotion of young price and two more one from the secretary of the first lord to a friend whom the admiral had set to work in the business the other from that friend to himself by which it appeared that his had the very great happiness of attending to the recommendation of sir charles that sir charles was much delighted in having such an opportunity of proving his regard for and that the circumstance of mr william price s commission as second lieutenant of h m being made out was spreading general joy through a wide circle of great people while her hand was trembling under these letters her eye running from one to the other and her heart swelling with emotion thus continued with eagerness to express his interest in the event i will not talk of my own happiness said he great as it is for i think only of yours compared with you who has a right to be happy i have almost myself my own prior knowledge of what you ought to have known before all the world i have not lost a moment however the post was late this morning but there has not been since a moment s delay how impatient how anxious how wild i have been on the subject i will not attempt to describe how severely how cruelly disappointed in not having it while i was in london i was kept there from day to day in the hope of it for nothing less dear to me than such an object would have detained me half the time from but though my uncle entered into my wishes with all the warmth i could desire and exerted himself immediately there were difficulties from the absence of one friend and the engagements of another which at last i could no longer bear to stay the end of and knowing in what good hands i left the cause i came away on monday trusting that many posts would not pass before i should be followed by such very letters as these my uncle who is the very best man in the world has exerted himself as i knew he would after seeing your brother he was delighted with him i would not allow myself yesterday to say how delighted or to repeat half that the admiral said in his praise i deferred it all till his praise should be proved the praise of a friend as this day does prove it now i may say that even i could not require william price to excite a greater interest or be followed by warmer wishes and higher than were most voluntarily bestowed by my uncle after the evening they passed together has this been all your doing then cried heaven i how very very kind have you really was it by your desire i beg your pardon but i am bewildered did ad park apply how was it i am henry was most happy to make it more intelligible by beginning at an earlier stage and very particularly what he had done hia last journey to london had been undertaken with no other view than that of introducing her brother in hill street and prevailing on the admiral to exert whatever interest he might have for getting him on this had been his business he had communicated it to no creature he had not breathed a syllable of it even to mary while uncertain of the issue he could not have borne any of his feelings but this had been his business and he spoke with such a glow of what his solicitude had been and used such strong expressions was so in the deepest interest in motives in views and wishes more than could be told that could not have remained insensible of his drift had she been able to attend but her heart was so full and her senses still so astonished that she could listen but imperfectly even to what he told her of william and saying only when he paused how kind how very kind oh mr we are infinitely obliged to you dearest dearest william she jumped up and moved in haste towards the door crying out i will go to my uncle my uncle ought to know it as soon as possible but this could not be suffered the opportunity was too fair and his feelings too impatient he was after her immediately she must not go she must allow him five minutes longer and he took her hand and led her park back to her seat and was in the middle of his further explanation before she had suspected for what she was detained when she did understand it however and found herself expected to believe that she had created sensations which his heart had never known before and that everything he had done for william was to be placed to the account of his excessive and attachment to her she was exceedingly distressed and for some moments unable to speak she considered it all as nonsense as mere trifling and gallantry which meant only to deceive for the hour she could not but feel that it was treating her and and in such a way as she	26
had not deserved but it was like himself and entirely of a piece with what she had seen before and she would not allow herself to show half the displeasure she felt because he had been an obligation which no want of delicacy on his part could make a trifle to her while her heart was still bounding with joy and gratitude on william s behalf she could not be severely of anything that injured only herself and after having twice drawn back her hand and twice attempted in vain to turn away from him she got up and said only with much agitation don t mr pray don t i beg you would not this is a sort of talking which is very unpleasant to me i must go away i cannot bear it but he was still talking on describing his affection a return and finally in words so plain as to bear but one meaning even to her offering himself hand fortune everything to her acceptance it was be had said it her astonishment and increased and though still not knowing how to suppose him serious she could hardly stand he pressed for an answer no no no she cried hiding her face this is all nonsense do not distress me i can hear no more of this your kindness to william makes me more obliged to you than words can express but i do not want i cannot bear i must not listen to such no no don t think of me but you are not thinking of me i know it is all nothing she had burst away from him and at that moment sir thomas was heard speaking to a servant in his way towards the room they were in it was no time for further assurances or entreaty though to part with her at a moment when her modesty alone seemed to his sanguine and mind to stand in the way of the happiness he sought was a cruel necessity she rushed out at an opposite door from the one her uncle was approaching and was walking up and down the east room in the utmost confusion of contrary feeling before sir thomas s politeness or apologies were over or he had reached the beginning of the joyful intelligence which his visitor came to communicate she was feeling thinking trembling about everything agitated happy miserable infinitely obliged absolutely angry it was all beyond belief he was incomprehensible but such were his habits that he could do nothing without a mixture of evil he had previously made her the happiest of human beings and now he had insulted she knew not what to say park how to class or how to regard it she would not have him be serious and yet what could excuse the use of such words and if they meant but to trifle but william was a lieutenant that was a fact beyond a doubt and without an she would think of it forever and forget all the rest mr would certainly never address her so again he must have seen how unwelcome it was to her and in that case how gratefully she could esteem him for his friendship to william i she would not stir farther from the east room than the head of the great staircase till she had satisfied herself of mr s having left the house but when convinced of his being gone she was eager to go down and be with her uncle and have all the happiness of his joy as well as her own and all the benefit of his information or his conjectures as to what would now be william s destination sir thomas was as joyful as she could desire and very kind and and she had so comfortable a talk with him about william as to make her feel as if nothing had occurred to vex her till she found towards the close that mr was engaged to return and dine there that very day this was a most unwelcome hearing for thou he might think nothing of what had passed it would be quite distressing to her to see him again so soon she tried to get the better of it tried very hard as the dinner hour approached to feel and appear as usual but it was quite impossible for her not to look most shy and uncomfortable when their park visitor entered the room she could not have supposed it in the power of any of circumstances to give her so many painful sensations on the first day of hearing of william s promotion mr was not only in the room he was soon close to her he had a note to deliver from his sister could not look at him hut there was no consciousness of past folly in his voice she opened her note immediately glad to have anything to do and happy as she read it to feel that the of her aunt who was also to dine there her a little from view my dear for so i may now always call you to the infinite relief of a tongue that has been stumbling at miss price for at least the last six weeks i cannot let my brother go without sending you a few lines of general and giving my most joyful consent and approval on my dear and without fear there can be no difficulties worth i choose to suppose that the assurance of my consent will be something so you may smile upon him with your sweetest smiles this afternoon and send him back to me even happier than he goes yours affectionately m c these were not expressions to do any good for though she read in too much haste and confusion to form the judgment of miss s meaning it was evident that she meant to compliment her on her	26
brother s attachment and even to appear to believe it serious she did not know what to do or what to think there was wretchedness in the idea of its being serious there was perplexity and agitation every way she was distressed whenever mr spoke to her and he spoke to her much too often and she was afraid there was a something in his voice and manner in addressing her very from what they were when he talked to the others her comfort in that day s dinner was quite destroyed she could hardly eat anything and when sir thomas good observed that joy had taken away her appetite she was ready to sink with shame from the dread of mr s interpretation for though nothing could have tempted her to turn her eyes to the right hand where he sat she felt that his were immediately directed towards her she was more silent than ever she would hardly join even when william was the subject for his commission came all from the right hand too and there was pain in the connection she thought lady sat longer than ever and began to be in despair of ever getting away but at last they were in the drawing room and she was able to think as she would while her finished the subject of william s appointment in their own style mrs seemed as much delighted with the saving it would be to sir thomas as with any part of it now william would be able to keep himself which would make a vast to his uncle for it was unknown how much he had cost his uncle and indeed it would make some difference in her presents too she was very glad that she had given william what she did at very glad indeed that it had been in her power without material inconvenience just at that time to give him something rather considerable that is for her with her limited means for now it would all be useful in helping to fit up his cabin she knew he must be at some expense that he would have many things to buy though to be sure his father and mother would be able to put him in the way of getting everything very cheap but she was very glad that she had contributed her towards it i am glad you gave him something considerable said lady with most calmness for i gave him only indeed cried mrs upon my word he must have gone off with his pockets well lined and at no expense for his journey to london either i sir thomas told me would be enough mrs being not at all inclined to question its began to take the matter in another point it is amazing said she how much young people cost their friends what with bringing them up and putting them out in the world they little think how much it comes to or what their parents or their and pay for them in the course of the year now here are my sister price s children take them altogether i dare say nobody would believe what a sum they cost sir thomas every year to say nothing of what i do for them very true sister as you say but poor things i they cannot help it and you know it makes very little difference to sir thomas william must not forget my shawl if he goes to the east indies and i shall give him a commission for anything else that is worth i wish he may go to the east indies that i may have my shawl i think i will have two meanwhile speaking only when she could not help it was very earnestly trying to understand what mr and miss were at there was everything in the world against their being serious but his words and manner everything natural probable reasonable was against it all their habits and ways of thinking and all her own how could she have excited serious attachment in a man who had seen so many and been admired by so many and with so many infinitely her who seemed so little open to serious impressions even where pains had been taken to please him who thought so slightly so carelessly so on all such points who was everything to everybody and seemed to find no one essential to him and further how could it be supposed that his sister with all her high and worldly notions of matrimony would be anything of a serious nature in such a quarter nothing could be more unnatural in either was ashamed of her own doubts everything might be possible rather than serious attachment or serious approbation of it toward her she had quite con park herself of this before sir thomas and mr joined them the difficulty was in maintaining the quite so absolutely after mr was in the room for once or twice a look seemed forced on her which she did not know how to class among the common meaning in any other man at she would have said that it meant something very earnest yery pointed but she still tried to believe it no more than what he might often have expressed towards her cousins and fifty other women she thought he was wishing to speak to her unheard by the rest she fancied he was trying for it the whole evening at intervals whenever sir thomas was out of the room or at all engaged with mrs and she carefully refused him every opportunity at last it seemed an at last to s though not remarkably late he began to talk of going away but the comfort of the sound was by his turning to her the next moment and saying have you nothing to send to mary no answer to her note	26
she will be disappointed if she receives nothing from you pray write to her if it be only a line h yes certainly cried rising in haste the haste of embarrassment and of wanting to get away i will write directly she went accordingly to the table where she was in the habit of writing for her aunt and prepared her materials without knowing what in the world to say she had read miss s note only once and how to reply to anything so im perfectly understood was most distressing quite in such sort of note writing had there been time for scruples and fears as to style she would have felt them in abundance but something must be instantly written and with only one decided feeling that of wishing not to appear to think anything really intended she wrote thus in great trembling both of spirits and hand i am very much obliged to you my dear miss for your kind congratulations as far as they relate to my dearest william the rest of your note i know means nothing but i am so unequal to anything of the sort that i hope you will excuse my begging you to take no further notice i have seen too much of mr not to understand his manners if he understood me as well he would i dare say behave differently i do not know what i write but it would be a great favor of you never to mention the subject again with thanks for the honor of your note i remain dear miss etc etc the was scarcely intelligible from increasing fright for she found that mr under pretence of receiving the note was coming towards her you cannot think i mean to hurry you said he in an under voice perceiving the amazing with which she ma e up the note you cannot think i have any such object do not hurry yourself i entreat oh i thank you i have quite done just done it will be ready in a moment i am very much vol n park obliged to you if you will be so good as to give that to miss the note was held out and must be taken and as she instantly and with averted eyes walked towards the fireplace where sat the others he had nothing to do but to go in good earnest thought she had never known a day of greater agitation both of pain and pleasure but happily the pleasure was not of a sort to die with the day for every day would restore the knowledge of william s advancement whereas the pain she hoped would return no more she had no doubt that her note must appear excessively that the language would disgrace a child for her distress had allowed no arrangement but at least it would assure them both of her being neither imposed on nor gratified by mr s attentions chapter vm had by no means forgotten mr when she awoke the next morning but she remembered the purport of her note and was not less sanguine as to its effect than she had been the night before if mr would but go away i that was what she most earnestly desired go and take his sister with him as he was to do and as he returned to on purpose to do and why it was not done already she could not devise for miss certainly wanted no delay had hoped in the course of his yesterday s visit to hear the day named but he had only spoken of their journey as what would take place having so satisfactorily settled the conviction her note would convey she could not but be astonished to see mr as she accidentally did coming up to the house again and at an hour as early as the day before his coming might have nothing to do with her but she must avoid seeing him if possible and being then in her way upstairs she resolved there to remain during the whole of his visit unless actually sent for and as mrs was still in the house there seemed little danger of her being wanted she sat some time in a good deal of agitation listening trembling and fearing to be sent for park every moment but as no footsteps approached the east room she grew gradually composed could sit down and be able to employ herself and able to hope that mr had come and would go without her being obliged to know anything of the matter nearly half an hour had passed and she was growing very comfortable when suddenly the sound of a step in regular approach was heard a heavy step an unusual step in that part of the house it was her uncle s she knew it as well as his voice she had trembled at it as often and began to tremble again at the idea of his coming up to speak to her whatever might be the subject it was indeed sir thomas who opened the door and asked if she were there and if he might come the terror of his former occasional visits to that room seemed all renewed and she felt as if were going to examine her again in french and english she was all attention however in placing a chair for him and trying to appear honored and in her agitation had quite overlooked the of her apartment till he stopping short as he entered said with much surprise why have you no fire to day there was snow on the ground and she was sitting in a shawl she hesitated i am not cold sir i never sit here long at this time of year but you have a fire in general no sir how comes this about here must be some mistake	26
z understood that yon had the use of this room by way of making you perfectly comfortable in your i know you cannot have a fire here is some great which must be it is highly unfit for you to sit be it only half an hour a day without a fire you are not strong you are chilly your aunt cannot be aware of this would rather have been silent but being obliged to speak she could not forbear in justice to the aunt she loved best from saying something in which the words my aunt were i understand cried her uncle himself and not wanting to hear more i understand your aunt has always been an advocate and very for young people s being brought up without unnecessary but there should be moderation in everything she is also very hardy herself which of course will influence her in her opinion of the wants of others and on another account too i can perfectly comprehend i know what her sentiments have always been the principle was good in itself but it may have been and i believe has been carried too far in your case i am aware that there has been sometimes in some points a distinction but i think too well of you to suppose you will ever harbor resentment on that account you have an understanding which will prevent you from receiving things only in part and judging partially by the event you will take in the whole oi the past you will consider times persons and and you will feel tbat they were not least your friends who were and preparing you for that of condition which seemed to be your lot though their caution may prove unnecessary it was kindly meant and of this you may be assured that every advantage of will be doubled by the little and that may have been imposed i am sure you will not disappoint my opinion of you by failing at any time to treat your aunt with the respect and attention that are due to her but enough of this sit down my dear i must speak to you for a few minutes but i will not detain you long obeyed with eyes cast down and color rising after a moment s pause sir thomas trying to suppress a smile went on you are not aware perhaps that i have had a visitor this morning i had not been long in my own room after breakfast when mr was shown in his errand you may probably conjecture s color grew deeper and deeper and her uncle perceiving that she was embarrassed to a degree that made either speaking or looking up quite impossible turned away his own eyes and without any further pause proceeded in his account of mr s visit mr s business had been to declare himself the lover of make decided proposals for her and entreat the sanction of the uncle who seemed to stand in the place of her parents and he had done it all so well so openly so liberally park properly that sir thomas feeling moreover his own replies and his own remarks to have been very much to the purpose was exceedingly happy to give the particulars of their conversation and little aware of what was passing in his niece s mind conceived that by such details he must be gratifying her far more than himself he talked therefore for several minutes without s daring to interrupt him she had hardly even attained the wish to do it her mind was in too much confusion she had changed her position and with her eyes fixed intently on one of the windows was listening to her uncle in the utmost and dismay for a moment he ceased but she had barely become conscious of it when rising from his chair he said and now having performed one part of my commission and shown you everything placed on the basis the most assured and satisfactory i may execute the remainder by prevailing on you to accompany me downstairs where though i cannot but presume on having been no companion myself i submit to your finding one still better worth listening to mr as you have perhaps foreseen is yet in the house he is in my room and hoping to see you there there was a look a start an exclamation on hearing this which astonished sir thomas but what was his increase of astonishment on hearing her exclaim oh no sir i cannot indeed i cannot go down to him mr ought to know he must know that i told him enough yesterday to him he spoke to me on this subject yesterday and i told him without disguise that it was very disagreeable to me and quite out of my power to return his good opinion i do not catch your meaning said sir thomas sitting down again out of your power to return his good opinion what is all this i know he spoke to you yesterday and as far as i understand received as much encouragement to proceed as a well judging young woman could permit herself to give i was very much pleased with what i collected to have been your behavior on the occasion it showed a discretion highly to be commended but now when he has made his so properly and what are your scruples now you are mistaken sir cried forced by the anxiety of the moment even to tell her uncle that he was wrong you are quite mis taken how could mr say such a thing i gave him no encouragement yesterday on the contrary i told him i cannot recollect my exact words but i am sure i told him that x would not listen to him that it was very unpleasant to me in every respect and that i	26
begged him never to talk to me in that manner again i am sure i said as much as that and more and i should have said still more if i had been quite certain of his meaning anything seriously but i did not like to be i could not bear to be more than might be intended i thought it might all pass for nothing with him park she could say no more her breath was almost gone am i to understand said sir thomas after a few moments silence you mean to refuse mr yes sir refuse him yes sir refuse mr upon what plea for what reason i i cannot like him sir well enough to marry him this is yery strange said sir thomas in a voice of calm displeasure there is something in this which my comprehension does not reach here is a young man wishing to pay his addresses to you with everything to recommend him not merely situation in life fortune and character hut with more than common with address and conversation pleasing to everybody he is not an acquaintance of to day you have now known him some time his sister moreover is your intimate friend and he has been doing that for your brother which i should suppose would have been almost sufficient recommendation to you had there been no other it is very uncertain when my interest might have got william on he has done it already yes said in a faint voice and looking down with fresh sh ne and she did feel almost ashamed of herself after such a picture as her uncle had drawn for not liking mr park you must have been aware continued sir thomas presently you must have been sometime aware of a in mr s manners to you this cannot have taken you by surprise you must have observed his attentions and though you always received them very properly i have no accusation to make on that head i never perceived them to be unpleasant to you i am half inclined to think that you do not quite know your own feelings oh yes sir indeed i do his attentions were always what i did not like sir thomas looked at her with deeper surprise this is beyond me said he this requires explanation young as you are and having seen scarcely any one it is hardly possible that your affections he paused and eyed her he saw her lips formed into a no though the sound was inarticulate but her face was like scarlet that however in so modest a girl might be very with innocence and choosing at least to appear satisfied he quickly added no no i know that is quite out of the question quite impossible well there is nothing more to be said and for a few minutes he did say nothing he was deep in thought his niece was deep in thought likewise trying to and prepare herself against further questioning she would rather die than own the truth and she hoped by a little reflection to herself beyond betraying it of the interest which mr park ford s choice seemed to justify said sir thomas beginning again and very his wishing to marry at all so early is to me i am an advocate for early marriages where there are means in proportion and would have every young man with a sufficient income settle as soon after four and twenty as he can this is much my opinion that i am sorry to think how little likely my own eldest son your ca s mr is to marry early but at present as far as i can judge matrimony makes no part of his plans or thoughts i wish he were more likely to fix here was a glance at i consider from his disposition and habits as much more likely to marry early than his brother he indeed i have lately thought has seen the woman he could love which i am convinced my eldest son has not am i right do you agree with me my dear yes sir it was gently but it was calmly said and sir thomas was easy on the score of the cousins but the removal of his alarm did his niece no service as her was confirmed his displeasure increased and getting up and walking about the room with a frown which could picture to herself though she dared not lift up her eyes he shortly afterwards and in a voice of authority said have you any reason child to think ill of mr s temper no sir she longed to add but of his principles i have but her heart sunk under the appalling park of discussion explanation and probably her ill opinion of bim was founded on observations for her cousins sake could scarcely dare mention to their father maria and and especially maria were so closely in mr s that she could not give his character such as she believed it without betraying them she had hoped that to a man like her uncle so so honorable so good the simple acknowledgment of settled dislike on her side would have been sufficient to her infinite grief she found it was not sir thomas came towards the table where she sat in trembling wretchedness and with a good deal of cold said it is of no use i perceive to talk to you we had better put an end to this most conference mr must not be kept longer waiting i will therefore only add as thinking it my duty to mark my opinion of your conduct that you have disappointed every expectation i had formed and proved yourself of a character the very reverse of what i had supposed for i had as i think my behavior must have shown formed a very favorable opinion of	26
you from the period of my return to england i had thought you peculiarly free from of temper self conceit and every tendency to that independence of spirit which so much in modem days even in young women and which in young women is offensive and disgusting beyond all common offence but you have now shown me that you can be wilful and perverse that you can and will decide for park yourself without any consideration or deference for those who have surely some right to guide you without even asking their advice you have shown yourself very very from anything that i had imagined the advantage or disadvantage of your family of your parents your brothers and sisters never seems to have had a moment s share in your thoughts on this occasion how they might be how they must rejoice in such an establishment for you is nothing to you you think only of yourself and because you do not feel for mr exactly what a young heated fancy to be necessary for happiness you resolve to refuse him at once without wishing even for a little time to consider of it a little more time for cool consideration and for really examining your own inclinations and are in a wild fit of folly throwing away from you such an opportunity of being settled in life nobly settled as will probably never occur to you again here is a young man of sense of character of temper of manners and of fortune exceedingly attached to you and seeking your hand in the most handsome and disinterested way and let me tell you that you may live eighteen years longer in the world without being addressed by a man of half mr s estate or a tenth part of his merits gladly would i have bestowed either of my own daughters on him maria is nobly married but had mr sought s hand i should have given it to him with superior and more satisfaction than i gave maria s to mr after half a moment s pause and i should have been very much surprised had either of my daughters on a proposal of marriage at any time which might with it only half the of this immediately and and without paying my opinion or my regard the compliment of any consultation put a decided negative on it i should have been much surprised and much hurt by such a proceeding i should have thought it a gross of duty and respect you are not to be judged by the same rule you do not owe me the duty of a child but if your heart can you of ingratitude he ceased was by this time crying so bitterly that angry as he was he would not press that article further her heart was almost broken by such a picture of what she appeared to him by such so heavy so multiplied so rising in dreadful self willed obstinate selfish and ungrateful he thought her all this she had deceived his expectations she had lost his good opinion what was to become of her i am very sorry said she through her tears i am very sorry indeed sorry i yes i hope you are sorry and you will probably have reason to be long sorry for this day s transactions if it were possible for me to do otherwise said she with another strong effort but i am so perfectly convinced that i could never make him happy and that i should be miserable myself another burst of tears but in spite of that burst and in spite of that great black word park ill able which served to introduce it sir thomas began to think a little a little change of inclination might have something to do with it and to from the personal entreaty of the young man himself he knew her to be very timid and exceedingly nervous and thought it not improbable that her mind might be in such a state as a little time a little pressing a little patience and a little impatience a judicious mixture of all on the lover s side might work their usual effect on if the gentleman would but if he had but love enough to sir thomas began to have hopes and these reflections having passed across his mind and cheered it well said he in a tone of becoming gravity but of less anger well child dry up your tears there is no use in these tears they can do no good you must now come downstairs with me mr has been kept waiting too long already you must give him your own answer you cannot expect him to be satisfied with less and you only can explain to him the grounds of that of your sentiments which unfortunately for himself he certainly has i am totally unequal to it but showed such reluctance such misery at the idea of going down to him that sir thomas after a little consideration judged it better to indulge her his hopes from both gentleman and lady suffered a small depression in consequence but when he looked at his niece and saw the state of feature and complexion which her crying had brought her into he thought there might be as much lost as gained bj an immediate interview with a few words therefore of no particular meaning he walked o e by himself leaving his poor niece to sit and cry over what had passed with very wretched feelings her mind was all disorder the past present future everything was terrible but her anger gave her the pain of all selfish and ungrateful to have appeared so to him i she was miserable forever she had no one to ti e her part to counsel or speak for her her only friend was absent he might	26
have softened his father but all perhaps all would think her selfish and ungrateful she might have to endure the reproach again and again she might it or see it or know it to exist forever in every connection about her she could not but feel some resentment against mr yet if he really loved her and were unhappy too it was all wretchedness together in about a quarter of an hour her uncle returned she was almost ready to faint at the sight of him he spoke calmly however without without reproach and she revived a little there was comfort too in his words as well as his manner for he began with mr is gone he has just left me i need not repeat what has passed i do not want to add to anything you may now be feeling by an account of what he has felt suffice it that he has behaved in the most and generous manner and has confirmed me in a most favorable opinion of his understanding heart and temper upon park my representation of what you ware he immediately and with the greatest delicacy ceased to urge to see you for the present here who had looked up looked down again f course continued her uncle it cannot be supposed but that he should request to speak with you alone be it only for five minutes a request too natural a claim too just to be denied but there is no time fixed perhaps to morrow or whenever your spirits are composed enough for the present you have only to yourself check these tears they do but you if as i am willing to suppose you wish to show me any you will not give way to these emotions but endeavor to reason yourself into a stronger of mind i advise you to go out the air will do you good go out for an hour on the gravel you will have the to yourself and will be the better for air and exercise and turning back again for a moment i shall make no mention below of what has passed i shall not even tell your aunt there is no occasion for spreading the disappointment say nothing about it yourself this was an order to be most joyfully obeyed this was an act of kindness which felt at her heart to be spared from her aunt s interminable reproaches i he left her in a glow of gratitude anything might be rather than such reproaches even to see mr would be less overpowering she walked out directly as her uncle vol n mended and followed his advice as far as she could did check her tears did earnestly try to compose her spirits and strengthen her mind she wished to prove to him that she did desire his comfort and sought to regain his favor and he had given her another strong motive for exertion in keeping the whole affair from the knowledge of her to excite suspicion by her look or manner was now an object worth and she felt equal to almost anything that might save her om her aunt she was struck quite struck when on returning from her walk and going into the east room again the first thing which caught her eye was a fire lighted and burning a fire it seemed too much just at that time to be giving her such an indulgence was exciting even painful gratitude she wondered that sir thomas could have leisure to think of such a trifle again but she soon found from the voluntary information of the who came in to attend it that so it was to be every day sir thomas had given orders for it i must be a brute indeed if i can be really ungrateful said she in heaven defend me from being ungrateful she saw nothing more of her uncle nor of her aunt till they met at dinner her uncle s behavior to her was then as nearly as possible what it had been before she was sure he did not mean there should be any change and that it was only her own conscience that could fancy any but her aunt was soon quarrelling with her and when she found how much and how her having only walked out without her aunt s knowledge could be dwelt on she felt all the reason she had to bless the kindness which saved her from the same spirit of reproach exerted on a more momentous subject if i had known you were going out i should have got you just to go as far as my house with some orders for said she which i have since to my very great inconvenience been obliged to go and carry myself i could very ill spare the time and you might have saved me the trouble if you would only have been so good as to let us know you were going out it would have made no difference to you i suppose whether you had walked in the or gone to my house i recommended the to as the place said sir thomas oh said mrs with a moment s check that was very kind of you sir thomas but you do not know how dry the path is to my house would have had quite as good a walk there i assure you with the advantage of being of some use and obliging her aunt it is all her fault if she would but have let us know she was going out but there is a something about i have often observed it before she likes to go her own way to work she does not like to be dictated to she takes her own independent walk whenever she can she certainly has a little spirit of secrecy and independence and nonsense about her which i	26
would advise her to get the better of as a general reflection on sir thomas thought nothing could be more unjust though he had been go lately expressing the same sentiments himself and he tried to turn the conversation tried repeatedly before he could succeed for mrs had not enough to perceive either now or at any other time to what degree he thought well of his niece or how very far he was from wishing to have his own n s merits set o e by the of hers he was talking at and this private walk half through the it was over however at last and the evening set in with more composure to and more cheerfulness of spirits than she could have hoped for after so stormy a morning but she trusted in the first place that she had done right that her judgment had not her for the purity oi her intentions she could answer and she was willing to hope secondly that her uncle s dis pleasure was and would further as he considered the matter with more and felt as a good man must feel how wretched and how how hopeless and how wicked it was to marry when the meeting with which she was threatened for the morrow was past she could not but flatter herself the subject would be finally concluded and mr once gone from that everything would soon be as if no such subject had existed she would not could not believe that mr s affection for could distress him long his mind was not of that sort london would soon bring its cure in park don he would soon learn to wonder at his and be thankful for the right reason in her which had saved him from its evil consequences while s mind was engaged in these sort of hopes her uncle was soon after tea called out of the room an occurrence too common to strike her and she thought nothing of it till the butler reappeared ten minutes afterwards and advancing decidedly towards he said sir thomas wishes to speak with you ma am in his own room then it occurred to her what might be going on a suspicion rushed over her mind which drove the color from her cheeks but instantly rising she was preparing to obey when mrs called out stay stay what are you about where are you going don t be in such a hurry depend upon it it is not you that are wanted depend upon it it is me looking at the butler but you are so very eager to put yourself forward what should sir thomas want you for it is me you mean i am coming this moment you mean me i am sure sir thomas wants me not miss price but was stout no ma am it is miss price i am certain of its being miss price there was a half smile with the words which meant i do not think you would answer the purpose at all mrs much discontented was obliged to compose herself to work again and walking in consciousness found herself as she anticipated in another minute alone with mr chapter el the conference was neither so short nor so as the lady had designed the gentleman was not so easily satisfied he had all the disposition to that sir thomas wish him he had vanity which strongly inclined him in the first place to think she did love him though she might not know it herself and which secondly when constrained at last to admit that she did know her own present feelings convinced him that he should be able in time to make those feelings what he wished he was in love very much in love and it was a love which on an active sanguine spirit of more warmth than delicacy made her affection appear of greater consequence because it was withheld and determined him to have the glory as well as the felicity of forcing her to love him he would not despair he would not he had every well reason for solid attachment he knew her to have all the worth that could justify the warmest hopes of lasting happiness with her her conduct at this very time by speaking the and delicacy of her character qualities which he believed most rare indeed was of a sort to all his wishes and confirm all his resolutions he knew not that he had a pre engaged heart to attack of that he had no suspicion he considered her rather as one who had never thought on the subject enough to be in danger who had been guarded by youth a youth of mind as lovely as of person whose modesty had prevented her om understanding his attentions and who was still overpowered by the suddenness of addresses so wholly unexpected and the novelty of a situation which her fancy had never taken into account must it not follow of course that when he was understood he should succeed he believed it fully love such as his in a man like himself must with perseverance secure a return and at no great distance and he had so much delight in the idea of obliging her to love him in a very short time that her not loving him now was scarcely regretted a little difficulty to be overcome was no evil to henry he rather derived spirits from it he had been apt to gain hearts too easily his situation was new and to however who had known too much opposition all her life to find any charm in it all this was unintelligible she found that he did mean to but how he could after such l from her as she felt herself obliged to use was not to be understood she told him that she did not love him could not love him was	26
sure she never should love him that such a change was quite impossible that the subject was most painful to her that she must entreat him never to mention it again to allow her to leave him at once and let it be considered as concluded forever and when further pressed had added that in her opinion their dispositions were so totally as to make mutual affection and that they were for each other by nature education and habit all this she had said and with the earnestness of sincerity yet this was not enough for he immediately denied there being anything in their characters or anything in their situations and positively declared that he would still love and still hope knew her own meaning but was no judge of her own manner her manner was gentle and she was not aware how much it concealed the of her purpose her gratitude and softness made every expression of indifference seem almost an effort of self denial seem at least to be giving nearly as much pain to herself as to him mr was no longer the mr who as the treacherous admirer of maria had been her whom she had hated to see or to speak to in whom she could believe no good quality to exist and whose power even of being agreeable she had barely acknowledged he was now the mr who was addressing herself with ardent disinterested love whose feelings were apparently all that was honorable and upright whose views of h were all fixed on a marriage of attachment who was pouring out his sense of her merits describing and describing again his affection proving as far as words could prove it and in the language tone and spirit of a man of talent too that he sought her for her gentleness and her goodness and to complete the he was now the mr who had procured william s promotion here was a change and here were claims which could not but operate i she might have him in all the dignity of angry virtue in the grounds of or the theatre at park but he approached her now with rights that demanded treatment she must be courteous and she must be compassionate she must have a sensation ot being honored and whether thinking of herself or her brother she must have a strong feeling of gratitude the effect of the whole was a manner so pitying and agitated and words with her refusal so expressive of obligation and concern that to a temper of vanity and hope like s the truth or at least the strength of her might well be questionable and he was not so as considered him in the professions of and not attachment which closed the interview it was with reluctance that he suffered her to go but there was no look of despair in parting to his words or give her hopes of his being less unreasonable than he professed himself she was angry some resentment did arise at a perseverance so selfish and here was again a want of delicacy and regard for others which had formerly so struck and disgusted her here was again a something of the same mr whom she had so before how evidently was there a gross want of feeling and humanity where his own pleasure was concerned and alas how always known no principle to supply as a duty what the heart was deficient in had her own affections heen as free as perhaps they ought to have been he never could have engaged them so thought in good truth and sober as she sat musing over that too great indulgence and luxury of a fire upstairs wondering at the past and present wondering at what was yet to come and in a nervous agitation which made nothing clear to her but the persuasion of her being never under any circumstances able to love mr and the felicity of having a fire to sit over and think of it sir thomas was obliged or obliged himself to wait till the morrow for a knowledge of what had passed between the young people he then saw mr and received his account the first feeling was disappointment he had hoped better things he had thought that an hour s entreaty from a young man like could not have worked so little change on a gentle tempered girl like but there was speedy comfort in the determined views and sanguine perseverance of the lover and when seeing such confidence of success in the principal sir thomas was soon able to depend on himself nothing was omitted on his side of civility compliment or kindness that might assist the plan mr s was honored and was praised and the connection was still the most desirable in the world at park park mr would always be welcome he had only to consult his own judgment and feelings as to the of his visits at present or in future in all the niece s family and friends there could be but one opinion one wish on the subject the influence of all who loved her must incline one way everything was said that could encourage every encouragement received with grateful joy and the gentlemen parted the best of friends satisfied that the cause was now on a footing the most proper and hopeful sir thomas resolved to from all further with his niece and to show no open interference upon her disposition he believed kindness might be the best way of working entreaty should be from one quarter only the forbearance of her family on a point respecting which she could be in no doubt of their wishes might be their means of it accordingly on this principle sir thomas took the first opportunity of saying to her with a mild gravity intended to be well i have seen mr again and learn from him exactly	26
how matters stand between you he is a most extraordinary young man and whatever be the event you must feel that you have created an attachment of no common character though young as you are and little acquainted with the transient varying unsteady nature of love as it generally exists you cannot be struck as i am with all that is wonderful in a perseverance of this sort against with him it is entirely a matter of feeling he claims no merit in it perhaps is entitled to none yet chosen well his constancy has a respectable stamp had his choice been less i should have his indeed sir said i am very sorry that mr should continue to i know that it is paying me a very great compliment and i feel most honored but i am so perfectly convinced and i have told him so that it will never be in my power my dear interrupted sir thomas there is no occasion for this your feelings are as well known to me as my wishes and regrets must be to you there is nothing more to be said or done from this hour the subject is never to be revived between us you will have nothing to fear or to be agitated about you cannot suppose me capable of trying to persuade you to marry against your inclinations your happiness and advantage are all that i have in view and nothing is required of you but to bear with mr s to convince you that they may not be with his he proceeds at his own risk you are on safe ground i have engaged for your seeing him whenever he calls as you might have done had nothing of this sort occurred you will see him with the rest of us in the same manner and as much as you can the recollection of everything unpleasant he leaves so soon that even this slight sacrifice cannot be often demanded the future must be very un certain and now my dear this subject is closed between us the promised departure was all that could think of with much satisfaction her uncle s kind expressions however and manner were sensibly felt and when she considered how much of the truth was unknown to him she believed she had no right to wonder at the line of conduct he pursued he who had married a daughter to mr romantic delicacy was certainly not to be expected from him she must do her duty and trust that time might make her duty easier than it now was she could not though only eighteen suppose mr s attachment would hold out forever she could not but imagine that steady from herself would put an end to it in time how much time she might in her own fancy for its dominion is another concern it would not be fair to inquire into a young lady s exact estimate of her own in spite of his intended silence sir thomas found himself once more obliged to mention the subject to his niece to prepare her briefly for its being imparted to her a measure which he would still have avoided if possible but which became necessary from the totally opposite feelings of mr as to any secrecy of proceeding he had no idea of concealment it was all known at the where he loved to talk over the future with both his sisters would be rather gratifying to him to have enlightened witnesses of the progress of his success when sir thomas understood this he felt the necessity of making his own wife and sister in law acquainted with the business fare without delay though on s account he almost dreaded the effect of the communication to mrs as as herself he her mistaken but well meaning zeal sir thomas indeed was by this time not very far from mrs as one of those well meaning people who are always doing mistaken and very disagreeable things mrs however relieved him he pressed for the forbearance and silence towards their niece she not only promised but did observe it she only looked her increased ill will angry she was bitterly angry but she was more angry with for having received such an offer than for refusing it it was an injury and af ont to who ought to have been mr s choice and of that she disliked because she had neglected her and she would have such an to one whom she had been always trying to sir thomas gave her more credit for discretion on the occasion than she deserved and could have blessed her for allowing her only to see her displeasure and not to hear it lady took it differently she had been a beauty and a prosperous beauty all her life and beauty and wealth were all that excited her respect to know to be sought in marriage by a man of fortune raised her therefore very much in her opinion by convincing her that was very pretty which she had been doubting about before and that she would park be married it made her feel a sort of credit in calling her niece well said she as soon as they were alone together afterwards and she really had known something like impatience to be alone with her and her countenance as she spoke had extraordinary animation well i have had a very agreeable surprise this morning i must just speak of it once i told sir thomas i must once and then i shall have done i give you joy my dear niece looking at her complacently she added we certainly are a handsome family colored and doubted at first what to say when hoping to her on her side she presently answered my dear aunt you cannot wish me to do differently what i have done i am sure you	26
cannot wish me to marry for you would miss me should not you yes i am sure you would miss me too much for that no my dear i should not think of missing you when such an offer as this comes in your way i could do very well without you if you were married to a man of such good estate as mr you must be aware that it is every young woman s duty to accept such a very offer as this this was almost the only rule of conduct the only piece of advice which had ever received from her aunt in the course of eight years and a half it silenced her she felt how would be if her aunt s feelings were against her nothing could be hoped from attacking her understanding lady was quite i will tell you what said she i am sure he fell in love with you at the ball i am sure the mischief was done that evening you did look remarkably well everybody said so sir thomas said so and you know you had to help you i am very glad i sent to you i shall tell sir thomas that i am sure it was done that evening and still pursuing the same cheerful thoughts she soon afterwards added and i will tell you what which is more than i did for maria the next time has a litter you shall have a chapter x had great things to hear on his return many surprises were awaiting him the first that occurred was not least in interest the appearance of henry and his sister walking together through the village as he rode into it he had concluded he had meant them to be far distant his absence had been extended beyond a fortnight purposely to avoid miss he was returning to with spirits ready to feed on melancholy and tender associations when her own fair self was before him leaning on her brother s arm and he found himself receiving a welcome unquestionably friendly from the woman whom two moments before he had been thinking of as seventy miles off and as farther much farther from him in inclination than any distance could express her reception of him was of a sort which he could not have hoped for had he expected to see her coming as he did from such a purport fulfilled as had taken him away he would have expected anything rather than a look of satisfaction and words of simple pleasant meaning it was enough to set his heart in a glow and to bring him home in the state for feeling the full value of the other joyful surprises at hand vol ii william s promotion with all its he was soon master of and with such a secret provision of comfort within his own breast to help the joy he found in it a source of most gratifying sensation and cheerfulness all after dinner when he and his father were alone he had s history and then all the great events of the last fortnight and the present situation of matters at were known to him suspected what was going on they sat so much longer than usual in the dining parlor that she was sure they must be talking of her and when tea at last brought them away and she was to be seen by again she felt dreadfully guilty he came to her sat down by her took her hand and pressed it kindly and at that moment she thought that but for the occupation and the scene which the tea things afforded she must have betrayed her emotion in some excess he was not intending however by such action to be conveying to her that approbation and encouragement which her hopes drew from it it was designed only to express his in all that interested her and to tell her that he had been hearing what quickened every feeling of affection he was in fact entirely on his father s side of the question his surprise was not so great as his father s at her refusing because so far from supposing her to consider him with anything like a prefer ence he had always believed it to be rather the reverse and could imagine her to be taken perfectly unprepared but sir thomas could not regard the connection as more desirable than he did it had every recommendation to him and while her for what she had done under the influence of her present indifference her in rather stronger terms than sir thomas could quite echo he was most earnest in hoping and sanguine in believing that it would be a match at last and that united by mutual affection it would appear that their dispositions were as exactly fitted to make them blessed in each other as he was now beginning seriously to consider them had been too he had not given her time to attach herself he had begun at the wrong end with such powers as his however and such a disposition as hers trusted that everything would work out a happy conclusion meanwhile he saw enough of s embarrassment to make him guard against exciting it a second time by any word or look or movement called the next day and on the score of s return sir thomas felt himself more than to ask him to stay dinner it was really a necessary compliment he stayed of course and had then ample opportunity for observing how he sped with and what degree of immediate encouragement for him might be extracted from her manners and it was so little so very very little every chance every possibility of it resting upon her embarrassment only if there was not hope in her there was hope in nothing else that he was almost ready to wonder at his	26
will fit up a theatre at your house in do you ma am cried he with quickness no no that will never be your is quite mistaken no theatre at oh no and he looked at with an expressive which evidently meant that lady will never allow a theatre at saw it all and so determined not to see it as to make it clear that the voice was enough to convey the full meaning of the and such a quick consciousness of compliment such a ready comprehension of a hint he thought was rather favorable than not the subject of reading aloud was further discussed the two young men were the only but they standing by the fire talked over the too common neglect of the the total to it in the ordinary school system for boys the consequently natural yet in some instances almost unnatural degree of ignorance and of men of sensible and well informed men when suddenly called to the necessity of reading aloud which had fallen within their notice giving instances of and failures with their secondary causes the want of management of the voice of proper and emphasis of foresight and judgment all proceeding from the first cause want of early attention and habit and was listening again with great entertainment even in my profession said with a smile how little the art of reading has been studied how little a clear manner and good delivery have been attended to speak rather of the past however than the present there is now a spirit of improvement abroad but among those who were ordained twenty thirty forty years ago the larger number to judge by their performance must have thought reading was and preaching was preaching it is different now the subject is more justly considered it is felt that distinctness and energy may have weight in the most solid truths and besides there is more general observation and taste a more critical knowledge diffused than formerly in every congregation there is a larger proportion who know a little of the matter and who can judge and had already gone through the service once since his and upon this being understood he had a variety of questions from as to his feelings and success questions which being made though with the vivacity of friendly interest and quick taste without any touch of that spirit of or air of levity which knew to be most offensive to he had true pleasure in satisfying and when proceeded to ask his opinion and give his own as to the manner in which particular passages in the service should be delivered showing it to be a subject on which he had thought before and thought with judgment was still more and more pleased this would be the way to s heart she was not to be won by all that gallantry and wit and good nature together could do or at least she would not be won by them nearly so soon without the assistance of sentiment and feeling and seriousness on serious subjects our observed has beauties which not even a careless style of fare reading can destroy but it has also and require good reading not to be felt for myself at least i must confess being not always so attentive as i ought to be here was a glance at nineteen times out of twenty i am thinking how such a prayer ought to be read and longing to have it to read myself did you speak stepping eagerly to and addressing her in a softened voice and upon her saying no he added are you sure you did not speak i saw your lips move i fancied you might be going to tell me i ought to be more attentive and not allow my thoughts to wander are not you going to tell me so no indeed you know your duty too well for me to even supposing she stopped felt herself getting into a puzzle and could not be prevailed on to add another word not by dint of several minutes of and waiting he then returned to his former station and went on as if there had been no such tender interruption a sermon well delivered is more uncommon even than prayers well read a sermon good in itself is no rare thing it is more difficult to speak well than to compose well that is the rules and trick of composition are oftener an object of study a thoroughly good sermon thoroughly well delivered is a capital gratification i can never hear such a one without the greatest admiration and respect and more than half a mind to take orders and preach myself there is something in the eloquence of the pulpit when it is park really eloquence is entitled to the highest praise and honor the preacher who can touch and affect such an mass of hearers on subjects limited and long worn in all common hands who can say anything new or striking anything that the attention without o the taste or wearing out the feelings of his hearers is a man whom one could not in his public capacity honor enough i should like to be such a man laughed i should indeed i never listened to a distinguished preacher in my life without a sort of envy but then i must have a london audience i could not preach but to the educated to those who were capable of my composition and i do not know that i should be fond of preaching often now and then perhaps once or twice in the spring after being anxiously expected for dozen sundays together but not for a constancy it would not do for a constancy here who could not but listen involuntarily shook her head and was instantly by her side again to know her meaning and as	26
perceived by his drawing in a chair and sitting down close by her that it was to be a very thorough attack that looks and were to be well tried he sank as quietly as possible into a corner turned his back and took up a newspaper very sincerely wishing that dear little might be persuaded into explaining away that shake of the head to the satisfaction of her ardent lover and as earnestly trying to bury every bound of the business from himself in murmurs of his own over the various of a most desirable estate in south wales to parents and and a capital hunter meanwhile vexed with herself for not having been as motionless as she was speechless and grieved to the heart to see s arrangements was trying by everything in the power of her modest gentle nature to mr and avoid both his looks and inquiries and he was in both what did that shake of the head mean said he what was it meant to express i fear but of what what had i been saying to you did you think me speaking lightly on the subject only tell me if i was only tell me if i was wrong i want to be set right nay nay i entreat you for one moment put down your work what did that shake of the head mean in vain was her pray sir don t pray mr repeated twice over and in vain did she try to move away in the same low eager voice and the same close neighborhood he went on re urging the same questions as before she grew more agitated and displeased how can you sir you quite astonish me i wonder how you can do i astonish you said he do you wonder is there anything in my present entreaty that you do not understand i will explain to you instantly all that makes me urge you in this man ner all that gives me an interest in what you look and do and my present curiosity i will not leave you to wonder long in spite of herself she could not help half a smile but she said nothing you shook your head at my acknowledging that i should not like to engage in the duties of a clergyman always for a constancy yes that was the word constancy i am not afraid of the word i would spell it read it write it with anybody i see nothing alarming in the word did you think i ought perhaps sir said wearied at last into speaking perhaps sir i thought it was a pity you did not always know yourself as well as you seemed to do at that moment delighted to get her to speak at any rate was determined to keep it up and poor who had hoped to silence him by such an extremity of reproof found herself sadly mistaken and that it was only a change from one object of curiosity and one set of words to another he had always something to entreat the explanation of the opportunity was too fair none such had occurred since his seeing her in her uncle s room none such might occur again before his leaving lady s being just on the other side of the table was a trifle for she might always be considered as only half awake and s were still of the first utility well said after a course of rapid questions and reluctant answers i am happier than i was because i now understand more clearly your opinion of me you think me unsteady easily swayed by the whim of the moment easily tempted easily put aside with such an opinion no wonder that but we shall see it is not by that i shall endeavor to convince yon i am wronged it is not by telling you that my affections are steady my conduct shall speak for me absence distance time shall speak for me they shall prove that as far as you can be by anybody i do deserve you you are infinitely my superior in merit all that i know you have qualities which i had not before supposed to exist in such a degree in any human creature you have some touches of the angel in you beyond what not merely beyond what one sees because one never sees anything like it but beyond what one fancies might be but still i am not frightened it is not by equality of merit that you can be won that is out of the question it is he who sees and your merit the strongest who loves you most that has the best right to a return there i build my confidence by that right i do and will deserve you and when once convinced that my attachment is what i declare it i know you too well not to entertain the warmest hopes yes dearest sweetest nay seeing her draw back displeased forgive me perhaps i have as yet no right but by what other name can i call you do you suppose you are ever present to my imagination under any other no it is that i think of all day and dream of all night you have given the name park such reality of sweetness that nothing else can now be descriptive of you could hardly have kept her seat any longer or have refrained from at least trying to get away in spite of all the too public opposition she foresaw to it had it not been for the sound of approaching relief the very sound which she had been long watching for and long thinking strangely delayed the solemn procession headed by of tea board urn and cake made its appearance and delivered her from a grievous imprisonment of body and mind mr was obliged	26
to move she was at liberty she was busy she was protected was not sorry to be admitted again among the number of those who might speak and hear but though the conference had seemed full long to him and though on looking at he saw rather a flush of vexation he inclined to hope that so much could not have been said and listened to without some profit to the speaker chapter xi had determined that it belonged entirely to to choose whether her situation with regard to should be mentioned between them or not and that if she did not lead the way it should never be touched on by him but after a day or two of mutual reserve he was induced by his father to change his mind and try what his influence might do for his friend a day and a very early day was actually fixed for the departure and sir thomas thought it might be as well to make one more effort for the young man before he left that all his professions and vows of attachment might have as much hope to sustain them as possible sir thomas was most cordially anxious for the perfection of mr s character in that point he wished him to be a model of constancy and fancied the best means of it would be by not trying him too long was not unwilling to be persuaded to engage in the business he wanted to know s feelings she had been used to consult him in every difficulty and he loved her too well to bear to be denied her confidence now he hoped to be of service to her he thought he must be of service to her whom else had she to open her heart to if she did not need council she must need the comfort of communication from him silent and reserved was an unnatural state of things a state which he must break through and which he could easily learn to think she was wanting him to break through i will speak to her sir i will take the first opportunity of speaking to her alone was the result of such thoughts as these and upon sir thomas s information of her being at that very time walking alone in the he instantly joined her i am come to walk with you said he shall i drawing her arm within his it is a long while since we have had a comfortable walk together she assented to it all rather by look word her spirits were low but he presently added in order to have a comfortable walk something more is necessary than merely pacing this gravel together you must talk to me i know you have something on your mind i know what you are thinking of you cannot suppose me am i to hear of it from everybody but herself at once agitated and dejected replied if you hear of it from everybody cousin there can be nothing for me to tell not of facts perhaps but of feelings no one but you can tell me them i do not mean to press you however if it is not what you wish yourself i have d me i had thought it might be a relief vol ii i am afraid we think too differently for me to find any relief in talking of what i feel do you suppose that we think differently i have no idea of it i dare say that on a comparison of our opinions they would he found as much alike as they have heen used to he to the i consider s proposals as most and if you could return his affection i consider it as most natural that all your family should wish you could return it hut that as you cannot you have done exactly as you ought in refusing him can there he any us here h no but i thought you me i you were against me this is such a comfort this comfort you might have had sooner had you sought it but how could you suppose me against you how could you imagine me an advocate for marriage without love were i even careless in general on such matters how could you imagine me so where your happiness was at stake my uncle thought me wrong and i knew he had heen talking to you as far as you have gone i think you perfectly right i may be sorry i may he surprised though hardly that for you had not had time to attach yourself but i think you perfectly fight can it admit of a question it is disgraceful to us if it does you did not love him nothing could have justified your accepting him had not felt so comfortable for days and days park so far your conduct has been and they were quite mistaken who wished you to do otherwise but the matter does not end here s is no common attachment he with the hope of creating that regard which had not been created before this we know must be a work of time but with an affectionate smile let him succeed at last let him succeed at last you have proved yourself upright and disinterested prove yourself grateful and tender hearted and then you will be the perfect model of a woman which i have always believed you bom for oh never never never he never will succeed with me and she spoke with a warmth which quite astonished and which she blushed at the recollection of herself when she saw his look and heard him reply never so very determined and positive i this is not like yourself your rational self i mean she cried sorrowfully herself that i think i never shall as far as the future can be answered for	26
i think i never shall return his regard i must hope better things i am aware more aware than can be that the man who means to make you love him you having due notice of his intentions must have very up hill work for there are all your early and habits in battle array and before he can get your heart for his own use he has to it from all the holds upon things and which so many years growth have confirmed and are for the by the yery idea of separation i know that the apprehension of being forced to quit will for a time be yon against him i wish he had not been obliged to teu you what he was for i wish he had known you as well as i do between ns i think we should have won you my and his practical knowledge together could not have failed he have worked upon my plans i must hope however that time proving him as i firmly believe it will to deserve you by his steady affection will give him his reward i cannot suppose that you have not the wish to love the natural wish of gratitude you must have some feeling of that sort you must be sorry for your own indifference we are so totally unlike said avoiding a direct answer we are so very very different in all our inclinations and ways that i it as quite impossible we should ever be tolerably happy together even if i could like him there were two people more we have not one taste in common we should be miserable you are mistaken the is not so strong you are quite enough alike you have tastes in common you have moral and literary tastes in common you have both warm hearts and benevolent feelings and who that heard him read and saw you listen to the other night will think you as companions you forget yourself there is a decided difference in your i allow he is lively you are serious but so much tiie better his spirits will support yours it is your disposition to be easily dejected and to fancy difficulties greater than they are his cheerfulness will this he sees difficulties no where and his and will be a constant support to you your being so far unlike does not in the smallest degree make against the probability of your happiness together do not imagine it i am myself convinced that it is rather a favorable circumstance i am perfectly persuaded that the had better be unlike i mean unlike in the flow of the spirits in the manners in the inclination for much or little company in the to talk or to be silent to be grave or to be gay some opposition here is i am thoroughly convinced friendly to matrimonial happiness i extremes of course and a very close resemblance in all those points would be the way to produce an extreme a gentle and continual is the best of manners and conduct full well could guess where his thoughts were now miss s power was all returning he had been speaking of her cheerfully from the hour of his coming home his avoiding her was quite at an end he had dined at the only the preceding day after leaving him to his happier thoughts for some minutes feeling it due to herself returned to mr and said it is not merely in temper that i consider him as totally to myself though in that respect i think the between us too great in too great his spirits often me but there is something in him which i object to still more i must say cousin that i cannot approve his character i have not thought well of him from the time of the play i then saw him as it appeared to me so very and i may speak of it now because it is all over so by poor mr not seeming to care how he exposed or hurt him and paying attentions to my cousin maria which in short at the time of the play i received an impression which will never be got over my dear replied scarcely hearing her to the end let us not any of us be judged by what we appeared at that period of general folly the time of the play is a time which i hate to recollect maria was wrong was wrong we were all wrong together but none so wrong as myself compared with me all the rest were i was playing the fool with my eyes open as a said perhaps i saw more than you did and i do think that mr was sometimes very jealous very possible no wonder nothing could be more improper than the whole business i am shocked whenever i think that maria could be capable of it but if she could undertake the part we must not be surprised at the rest before the play i am much mistaken if did not think he was paying her attentions i have heard before from some one of park his being in love with but i could never see anything of it and though i hope i do justice to my sisters good qualities i think it very possible that they might one or both be more desirous of being admired by and might show that desire rather more than was perfectly prudent i can remember that they were evidently fond of his society and with such encouragement a man like lively and it may be a little might be led on to there could be nothing very striking because it is clear that he had no pretensions his heart was reserved for you and i must say that its being for you has raised him in my opinion it does	26
extreme of vanity to be forming expectations on mr i am sure his sisters him as they do must have thought it so supposing he had meant nothing how then was i to be to be in love with him the moment he said he was with me how was i to have an attachment at his service as soon as it was asked for his sisters should consider me as well as him the higher his deserts the more improper for me ever to have thought of him and and we think very differently of the nature of women if they can imagine a woman so very soon capable of returning an affection as this seems to imply my dear dear now i have the truth i know this to be the truth and most worthy of you are such feelings i had attributed them to you before i thought i could understand you you have now given exactly the explanation which i ventured to make for you to your friend and mrs grant and they were both better satisfied though your warm hearted friend was still run away with a little by the enthusiasm of her fondness for henry i told them that you were of all human creatures the one over whom habit had most power and novelty least and that the very circumstance of the novelty of s addresses was against him their being so new and so recent was all in their that you could nothing that you were not used to and a great deal more to the same purpose to give them a knowledge of your character miss made ns by her plans of encouragement for her brother she meant to urge him to in the hope of being loved in time and of having his addresses most kindly received at the end of about ten years happy marriage could with difficulty give the smile that was here asked for her feelings were all in revolt she feared she had been doing wrong saying too much the caution which she had been necessary in guarding against one evil laying herself open to another and to have miss s repeated to her at such a moment and on such a subject was a bitter saw weariness and distress in her face and immediately resolved to forbear all further discussion and not even to mention the name ol again except as it might be connected with what must be agreeable to her on this principle he soon afterwards observed they go on monday you are sure therefore of seeing your friend either to morrow or sunday they really go on monday and i was within a trifle of being persuaded to stay at till that very day i had almost promised it what a difference it might have made those five or six days more at might have been felt all my life you were staying there very i was most kindly pressed and had nearly consented had i received any letter from to tell me how you were all going on i park believe i should certainly have stayed but i knew nothing that had happened here for a fortnight and felt that i had been away long enough you spent your time pleasantly there yes that is it was the fault of my own mind if i did not they were all very pleasant i doubt their finding me so i took uneasiness with me and there was no getting rid of it till i was in again the miss you liked them did not you yes very well pleasant good unaffected girls but i am spoilt for common female society unaffected girls will not do for a man who has been used to sensible women they are two distinct orders of being you and miss have made me too nice still however was oppressed and wearied he saw it in her looks it could not be talked away and attempting it no more he led her directly with the kind authority of a privileged guardian into the house chapter now believed himself perfectly acquainted with all that could tell or could leave to be of her sentiments and he was satisfied it had been as he before presumed too hasty a measure on s side and time must be given to make the idea first familiar and then agreeable to her she must be used to the consideration of his being in love with her and then a return of affection might not be very distant he gave this opinion as the result of the conversation to his father and recommended there being nothing more said to her no further attempts to influence or persuade but that everything should be left to s and the natural workings of her own mind sir thomas promised that it should be so s account of s disposition he could believe to be just he supposed she had all those feelings but he must consider it as very unfortunate that she had for less willing than his son to trust to the future he could not help fearing that if such very long of time and habit were necessary for her she might not have persuaded herself into receiving his addresses properly before the young man s inclination for paying them were over there was nothing to be done however but to submit quietly and hope the best park the promised visit from her friend as called miss was a formidable threat to and she lived in continual terror of it as a sister so partial and so angry and so little scrupulous of what she said and in another light so triumphant and secure she was in every way an object of painful alarm her displeasure her penetration and her happiness were all fearful to encounter and the dependence of having others present when they met was s only support in	26
park able to trust and confide in you which in common intercourse one knows nothing of i wish i had settled with mrs not to go to her till after a much better time for the visit but now i cannot put her off when i have done with her i must go to her sister lady because she was rather my most particular friend of the two but i have not cared much for her these three years after this speech the two girls sat many minutes silent each thoughtful meditating on the different sorts of friendship in the world mary on something of less philosophic tendency she first spoke again how perfectly i remember my to look for you upstairs and setting off to find my way to the east room without having an idea whereabouts it was how well i remember what i was thinking of as i came along and my look ing in and seeing you here sitting at this table at work and then your cousin s astonishment when he opened the door at seeing me here to be sure your uncle s returning that very evening there never was anything quite like it another short fit of abstraction followed when shaking it off she thus attacked her companion why you are absolutely in a reverie thinking i hope of one who is always thinking of you oh that i could transport you for a short time into our circle in town that you might un how your power over henry is thought of there oh the and heart of and the wonder the incredulity that will be felt at hearing what yon have done for as to secrecy henry is quite the hero of an old romance and glories in his chains you should come to london to know how to estimate your conquest if you were to see how he is and how i am for his sake i now i am well aware that i shall not be half so welcome to mrs in consequence of his situation with you when she comes to know the truth she will very likely wish me in again for there is a daughter of mr by a first wife whom she is wild to get married and wants henry to take oh she has been trying for him to such a degree innocent and quiet as you sit here you cannot have an idea of the sensation that you will be of the curiosity there will be to see you of the endless questions i shall have to answer i poor margaret will be at me forever about your eyes and your teeth and how you do your hair and who makes your shoes i wish margaret were married for my poor friend s sake for i look upon the to be about as unhappy as most other married people and yet it was a most desirable match for at the time we were all delighted she could not do otherwise than accept him for he was rich and she had nothing but he turns out ill tempered and ex and wants a young woman a beautiful young woman of five and twenty to be as steady as himself and my friend does not manage him well she does not seem to know how to make the best of it there is a spirit of irritation which to say nothing worse is certainly very ill bred in their house i shall call to mind the manners of with respect even dr grant does show a thorough confidence in my sister and a certain consideration for her judgment which makes one feel there is attachment but of that i shall see nothing with the i shall be at forever my own sister as a wife sir thomas as a husband are my standards of perfection poor been sadly taken in and yet there was nothing improper on her side she did not run into the match there was no want of foresight she took three days to consider of his proposals and during those three days asked the advice of everybody connected with her whose opinion was worth having and especially applied to my late dear aunt whose knowledge of the world made her judgment very generally and looked up to by all the young people of her acquaintance and she was decidedly in favor of mr this seems as if nothing were a security for matrimonial comfort i have not so much to say for my friend who a very nice young man in the for the sake of that horrid lord who has about as much sense as mr but much worse looking and with a character i had my doubts at the time about her being right for he has not even the air of a gentleman and now i am sure she was wrong by the by was dying for henry the first winter she came out but were i to attempt to tell you of all the women whom i have known to be in love with him i should never have done it is yon insensible who can think of him with anything like but are you so insensible as you profess yourself no no i see you are not there was indeed so deep a blush over s face at that moment as might warrant strong suspicion in a mind excellent creature i i will not you everything shall take its course but dear you must allow that you were not so absolutely unprepared to have the question asked as your cousin fancies it is not possible but that you must have had some thoughts on the subject some as to what might be you must have seen that he was trying to please you by every attention in his power was not he devoted to you at the ball and then before the ball the oh	26
you received it just as it was meant you were as conscious as heart could desire i remember it perfectly do you mean then that your brother knew of the beforehand oh miss that was not fair knew of it i it was his own doing entirely his own thought i am ashamed to say that it had never entered my head but i was delighted to act on his proposal for both your i will not say replied that i was not half afraid at the time of its being so for there was something in your look that frightened me but not at first i was as of it at first indeed indeed i was it is as true as park that i sit here and had i had an idea of it nothing should have induced me to accept the as to your brother s behavior certainly i was sensible of a i had been sen of it some little time perhaps two or three weeks but then i considered it as meaning ing i put it down as simply being his way and was as far from supposing as from wishing him to have any serious thoughts of me i had not miss been an of what was passing between him and some part of this family in the summer and autumn i was quiet but i was not blind i could not but see that mr allowed himself in which did mean nothing ah i cannot deny it he has now and then been a sad and cared very little for the he might be making in young ladies affections i have often him for it but it is his only fault and there is this to be said that very few young ladies have any affections worth caring for and then the glory of fixing one who has been shot at by so many of having it in one s power to pay off the debts of one s sex oh i am sure it is not in woman s nature to refuse such a triumph shook her head i cannot think well of a man who sports with any woman s feelings and there may often be a great deal more suffered than a by can judge of i do not defend him i leave him entirely to your mercy and when he has got you at i do not care how much you lecture him but this i will say that his fault the liking to make girls a little in love with him is not half so danger ous to a wife s happiness as a tendency to fall in love himself which he has never been to and i do seriously and truly believe that he is attached to you in a way that he never was to any woman before that he loves you with all his heart and will love you as nearly forever as possible if any man ever loved a woman forever i think henry will do as much for you could not avoid a faint smile but had nothing to say i cannot imagine henry ever to have been happier continued mary presently than when he had succeeded in getting your brother s commission she had made a sure push at s feelings here oh yes how very very kind of him i know he must have exerted himself very much for i know the parties he had to move the admiral hates trouble and asking and there are so many young men s claims to be attended to in the same way that a friendship and energy not very determined is easily put by what a happy creature william must be i wish we could see him poor s mind was thrown into the most distressing of all its varieties the recollection of what had been done for william was always the most powerful of every decision against mr and she sat thinking deeply of it till mary who had been first watching her and then musing on something else suddenly park called her attention by saying i should like to sit talking with you here all day but we must not forget the ladies below and so good by my dear my amiable my excellent for though we shall part in the breakfast parlor i must take leave of you here and i do take leave longing for a happy and trusting that when we meet again it will be under circumstances which may open our hearts to each other without any remnant or shadow of reserve a very very kind embrace and some agitation of manner accompanied these words i shall see your cousin in town soon he talks of being there tolerably soon and sir thomas i dare say in the course of the spring and your eldest cousin and the and i am sure of meeting again and again and all but you i have two to ask one is your correspondence you must write to me and the other that you will often call on mrs grant and make her amends for my being gone the first at least of these would rather not have been asked but it was impossible for her to refuse the correspondence it was impossible for her even not to to it more readily than her own judgment there was no resisting so much apparent affection her disposition was peculiarly calculated to value a fond treatment and from having hitherto known so little of it she was the more overcome by miss s besides there was gratitude towards her for having made their a so much less painful than her fears had predicted it was over and she had escaped without reproaches and without detection her secret was still her own and while that was the case she thought she could resign herself to almost everything in	26
the evening there was another parting henry came mid j at some time with them and her spirits not previously in the strongest state her heart was softened for a while towards him he really seemed to feel quite unlike his usual self he scarcely said anything he was evidently oppressed and must grieve for him though hoping she might never see him again till he were the husband of some other woman when it came to the moment of parting he would take her hand he would not be denied it he said nothing however or nothing that she heard and when he had left the room she was better pleased that such a token of friendship had passed on the morrow the were chapter mb gone sir thomas s next object was that he should be missed and he entertained great hope that his niece would find a blank in the loss of those attentions which at the time she had felt or fancied an evil she had tasted of in its most flattering form and he did hope that the loss of it the sinking again into nothing would awaken very wholesome regrets in her mind he watched her with this idea but he could hardly tell with what success he hardly knew whether there were any difference in her spirits or not she was always so gentle and retiring that her emotions were beyond his he did not understand her he felt that he did not and therefore applied to to tell him how she stood affected on the present occasion and whether she were more or less happy than she had been did not discern any symptom of regret and thought his father a little unreasonable in supposing the first three or four days could produce any what surprised was that s sister the friend and companion who had been so much to her should not be more visibly regretted he wondered that spoke so of her and liad so little to say of her concern at this separation alas it was this sister this and companion who was now the chief of s comfort if she could have believed mary s future fate as with as she was determined the brother s should be if she could have hoped her return thither to be as distant as she was much inclined to think his she would have been light of heart indeed but the more she recollected and observed the more deeply was she convinced that everything was now in a fairer train for miss s marrying than it had ever been before on his side the inclination was stronger on hers less his objections the scruples of his integrity seemed all done away nobody could tell how and the doubts and of her ambition were equally got over and equally without apparent reason it could only be to increasing attachment his good and her bad feelings yielded to love and such love must unite them he was to go to town as soon as some business relative to was completed perhaps within a fortnight he talked of going he loved to talk of it and when once with her again could not doubt the rest her acceptance must be as certain as his offer and yet there were bad feelings still remaining which made the prospect of it most sorrowful to her she believed of self in their very last conversation miss in spite of some amiable sensations and much per park kindness had still been miss still shown a mind led astray and bewildered and without any suspicion of being so darkened yet itself light she might love but she did not deserve by any other sentiment believed there was scarcely a second feeling in common between them and she may be forgiven by older for looking on the chance of miss s future improvement as nearly desperate for thinking that if s influence in this season of love had already done so little in clearing her judgment and her notions his worth would be finally wasted on her even in years of matrimony experience might have hoped more for any young people so and would not have denied to miss s nature that of the general nature of women which would lead her to adopt the opinions of the man she loved and respected as her own but as such were s she suffered very much from them and could never speak of miss without pain sir thomas meanwhile went on with his own hopes and his own observations still feeling a right by all his knowledge of human nature to expect to see the effect of the loss of power and consequence on bis niece s spirits and the past attentions of the lover producing a craving for their return and he was soon afterwards able to account for his not yet completely and seeing all this by the prospect of another visitor whose approach he could allow to be quite enough to support the spirits lie was watching william had a ten days leave of absence to be given to and was coming the happiest of because the latest made to show his happiness and describe his uniform he came and he would have been delighted to show his uniform there too had not cruel custom its appearance except on duty so the uniform remained at and that before had any chance of seeing it all its own freshness and all the freshness of its s feelings must be worn away it would be sunk into a of disgrace for what can be more or more worthless than the uniform of a lieutenant who has been a lieutenant a year or two and sees others made before him so reasoned till his father made him the of a scheme which placed s chance of seeing the second lieutenant of h m s in all	26
his glory in another light this scheme was that she should accompany her brother back to and spend a little time with her own family it had occurred to sir thomas in one of his dignified as a right and desirable measure but before he absolutely made up his mind he consulted his son considered it every way and saw nothing hut what was right the thing was good in itself and could not be done at a better time and he had no doubt of it being highly agreeable to this was enough to determine sir thomas and a decisive then so it shall be closed that stage of the business sir thomas retiring from it with some feelings of satisfaction and of good over and above what he had communicated to his son for his prime motive in sending her away had very little to do with the propriety of her seeing her parents again and nothing at all with any idea of making her happy he certainly wished her to go willingly but he as certainly wished her to be heartily sick of home before her visit ended and that a little from the and luxuries of park would bring her mind into a sober state and incline her to a estimate of the value of that home of greater and equal comfort of which she had the offer it was a project upon his niece s understanding which he must consider as at present a residence of eight or nine years in the abode of wealth plenty had a little disordered her powers of comparing and judging her father s house would in all probability teach her the value of a good income and he trusted that she would be the wiser and happier woman all her life for the experiment he had devised hm been at all to she must have had a strong attack of them when she first understood what was intended when her uncle first made her the offer of visiting the parents and brothers and sisters from whom she had been divided almost half her life of returning for a couple of months to the scenes of her infancy with william for the protector and of her journey and the certainty of con to see william to the last hour of his remaining on land had she ever given way to bursts of delight it must have been then for she was delighted but her happiness was of a quiet deep heart swelling sort and though never a great she was always more inclined to silence when feeling most strongly at the moment she could only thank and accept afterwards when with the visions of enjoyment so suddenly opened she could speak more largely to william and of what she felt but still there were emotions of tenderness that could not be clothed in words the remembrance of all her earliest pleasures and of what she had suffered in being torn from them came over her with renewed strength and it seemed as if to be at home again would heal every pain that had since grown out of the separation to be in the centre of such a circle loved by so many and more loved by all than she had ever been before to feel affection without fear or restraint to feel herself the equal of those who surrounded her to be at peace from all mention of the safe from every look which could be fancied a reproach on their account this was a prospect to be dwelt on with a fondness that could be but half acknowledged too to be two months from him and perhaps she might be allowed to make her absence three must do her good at a distance by his looks or his kindness and safe from the perpetual irritation of knowing his heart and striving to avoid his confidence she should be able park to reason herself into a state she should be able to think ol him as in london and arranging everything there without wretchedness what might have been hard to bear at was to become a slight evil at the only was the doubt of her aunt s being comfortable without her she was of use to no one else but there she might be missed to a degree that she did not like to think of and that part of the arrangement was indeed the hardest for sir thomas to accomplish and what only he could have accomplished at all but he was master at park when he had really resolved on any measure he could always carry it through and now by dint of long talking on the subject explaining and dwelling on the duty of s sometimes seeking her family he did induce his wife to let her go obtaining it rather from submission however than conviction for lady was convinced of very little more than that sir thomas thought ought to go and therefore that she must in the calm ness of her own dressing room in the impartial flow of her own meditations by his bewildering statements she could not necessity for s ever going near a father and mother who had done without her so while she was so useful to herself and as to missing her which under mrs s sion was the point attempted to be proved she set herself very steadily against admitting any such thing sir thomas had appealed to her reason con vol ii and dignity he called it a sacrifice and demanded it of her goodness and self command as such but mrs wanted to persuade her that could be very well spared she being ready to give up all her own time to her as requested and in short could not really be wanted or missed that may be sister was all lady s reply i dare say you are very right	26
but i am sure i shall miss her very much the next step was to communicate with wrote to offer herself and her mother s answer though short was so kind a few simple lines expressed so natural and a joy in the prospect of seeing her child again as to confirm all the daughter s views of happiness in being with her convincing her that she should now find a warm and affectionate friend in tiie mamma who had certainly shown no remarkable fondness for her formerly but this she could easily suppose to have been her own fault or her own fancy she had probably love by the helplessness and of a fearful temper or been unreasonable in wanting a larger share than any one among so many could deserve now when she knew better how to be useful and how to forbear and when her mother could be no longer occupied by the incessant demands of a house full of little children there would be leisure and inclination for every comfort and they should soon be what mother and daughter ought to be to each other william was almost as happy in the plan as his sister it would be the greatest pleasure to him to haye her there to the last moment before he sailed and perhaps find her there still when he came in from his first and besides he wanted so very much to see the before she went out of harbor the was certainly the finest in the service and there were several improvements in the dock yard too which he quite longed to show her he did not scruple to add that her being at home for a while would be a great advantage to everybody i do not know how it is said he but we seem to want some of your nice ways and at my other s the house is always in confusion you will set things going in a better way i am sure you will tell my mother how it all ought to be and you will be so useful to and you will teach and make the boys love and mind you how right and comfortable it will all be by the time mrs price s answer arrived there remained but a very few days more to be spent at and for part of one of those days the young travellers were in a good deal of alarm on the subject of their journey for when the mode of it came to be talked of and mrs found that all her anxiety to save her brother in law s money was vain and that in spite of her wishes and for a less expensive conveyance of they were to travel post when she saw sir actually give william notes for the purpose was struck with the idea of there being room for a third in the carriage and suddenly ed with a strong inclination to go witli them to go and see her poor dear sister price she proclaimed her thoughts she must say that she had more than half a mind to go with the young people it would be such an indulgence to her she had not seen her poor dear sister price for more than twenty years and it would be a help to the young people in their journey to have her older head to manage for them and she could not help thinking her poor dear sister price would feel it very unkind of her not to come by such an opportunity william and were horror struck at the idea all the comfort of their comfortable journey would be destroyed at once with countenances they looked at each other their suspense lasted an hour or two no one interfered to encourage or mrs was left to settle the matter by herself and it ended to the infinite joy of her nephew and niece in the recollection that she could not possibly be spared from park at present that she was a great deal too necessary to sir thomas and lady for her to be able to answer it to herself to leave them even for a week and therefore must certainly sacrifice every other pleasure to that of being useful to them it had in fact occurred to her that though taken to for nothing it would be hardly possible for her to avoid paying her own expenses back again so her poor dear sister price was left to all the disappointment of her missing such an opportunity and another twenty years absence perhaps begun s plans were affected by this journey this absence of s he too bad a sacrifice to make to park as well as bis aunt he bad intended about time to be going to london but be could not leave bis and just everybody else of most importance to comfort was leaving and witb an effort felt but not boasted of be delayed for a week or two longer a journey be was looking forward to witb tbe of its fixing bis forever he told of it knew so much already that she must know everything it made the substance of one other confidential discourse about miss and was tbe more affected from feeling it to be tbe last time in which miss s name would ever be mentioned between them with any remains of liberty once afterwards she was alluded to by him lady had been telling her niece in tbe evening to write to her soon and often and promising to be a good correspondent herself and at a convenient moment then added in a whisper and i shall write to you when i have anything worth writing about anything to say that i think you will like to hear and that you will not hear so soon from any other quarter had she doubted his meaning while she listened the	26
glow in bis face when she looked up at him would have been decisive for this letter she must try to arm herself that a letter from should be a subject of terror she began to feel that she had not yet gone through all the changes of opinion and which the progress of time and of circumstances occasion in this world of changes the of the human had not yet been exhausted by hen poor though going she did willingly and eagerly the last evening at park must still be wretchedness her heart was sad at parting she had tea rs for every room in the house much more for every beloved she clung to her aunt because she would miss her she kissed the hand of her uncle with struggling sobs because she had displeased him and as for she could neither speak nor look nor think when the last moment came with him and it was not till it was over that she he was giving her the affectionate farewell of a brother all this passed over night for the journey was to begin very early in the ing and when the small diminished party met at breakfast william and were talked of as already advanced one stage chapter xiv the novelty of travelling and the happiness of being with william soon produced their natural effect on s spirits when park was fairly left behind and by the time their first stage was ended and they were to quit sir thomas s carriage she was able to take leave of the old coachman and send back proper messages with cheerful looks of pleasant talk between the brother and sister there was no end everything supplied an amusement to the high glee of william s mind and he was full of and joke in the intervals of their higher toned subjects all of which ended if they did not begin in praise of the conjectures how she would be employed schemes for an action with some superior force which supposing the first lieutenant out of the way and william was not v ry merciful to the first lieutenant was to give himself the next step as soon as possible or speculations upon prize money which was to be generously distributed at home with only the of enough to make the little cottage comfortable in which he and were to pass all their middle and latter life together s immediate concerns as far as they involved mr made no part of their con william knew what liad passed and from his heart lamented that his sister s feelings should be so cold towards a man whom he must consider as the first of human characters but he was of an age to be all for love and therefore unable to blame and knowing her wish on the subject he would not distress her by the slightest allusion she had reason to suppose herself not yet forgotten by mr she had heard repeatedly from his sister within the three weeks which had passed since their leaving and in each letter there had been a few lines from himself warm and determined like his speeches it was a correspondence which found quite as unpleasant as she had feared miss s style of writing lively and affectionate was itself an evil independent of what she was thus forced into reading from the brother s pen for would never rest till she had read the chief of the letter to him and then she had to listen to his admiration of her language and the warmth of her there had in fact been so much of message of allusion of recollection so much of in every letter that could not but suppose it meant for him to hear and to find herself forced into a purpose of that kind compelled into a correspondence which was bringing her the addresses of the man she did not love and obliging her to administer to the adverse passion of the man she did was cruelly here too her present removal promised advantage when no longer under the same roof with she trusted that miss would have no motive for writing strong enough to overcome the trouble and that at their correspondence would into nothing with such thoughts as these among ten hundred others proceeded in her journey safely and cheerfully and as as could be hoped in the dirty month of february they entered oxford but she could take only a hasty glimpse of s college as they passed along and made no stop anywhere till they reached where a comfortable meal dinner and supper wound up the and of the day the next morning saw them off again at an early hour and with no events and no they regularly advanced and were in the of while there was yet daylight for to look around her and wonder at the new buildings they passed the and entered the town and the light was only beginning to fail as guided by william s powerful voice they were rattled into a narrow street leading from the high street and drawn up before the door of a small house now inhabited by mr price was all agitation and flutter all hope and apprehension the moment they stopped a looking seemingly in waiting for them at the door stepped forward and more intent on telling the news than giving them any help immediately began with the is gone out of harbor please sir and one of the officers has been here to she was inter by a fine tall boy of eleven years old who rushing out of the house pushed the maid aside and while william was opening the chaise himself called out you are just in time we have been looking for you this half hour the went out of harbor this morning i saw her it was a beautiful sight and they think	26

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