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?That is the first question, you know,? said Miss Crawford, trying
to appear gay and unconcerned, ?which every woman who plays
herself is sure to ask about anotherBut it is very foolish to ask
questions about any young ladies?about any three sisters just grown
up; for one knows, without being told, exactly what they are: all
very accomplished and pleasing, and one very prettyThere is a beauty
in every family; it is a regular thingTwo play on the pianoforte, and
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one on the harp; and all sing, or would sing if they were taught, or
sing all the better for not being taught; or something like it
?I know nothing of the Miss Owens,? said Fanny calmly
?You know nothing and you care less, as people sayNever did
tone express indifference plainerIndeed, how can one care for those
one has never seen? Well, when your cousin comes back, he will
find Mansfield very quiet; all the noisy ones gone, your brother and
mine and myself I do not like the idea of leaving MrsGrant now
the time draws nearShe does not like my going
Fanny felt obliged to speak??You cannot doubt your being missed
by many,? said she?You will be very much missed
Miss Crawford turned her eye on her, as if wanting to hear or see
more, and then laughingly said, ?Oh yes! missed as every noisy evil
is missed when it is taken away; that is, there is a great difference
feltBut I am not fishing; don?t compliment meIf I am missed, it
will appearI may be discovered by those who want to see meI
shall not be in any doubtful, or distant, or unapproachable region
Now Fanny could not bring herself to speak, and Miss Crawford
was disappointed; for she had hoped to hear some pleasant assurance
of her power from one who she thought must know, and her
spirits were clouded again
?The Miss Owens,? said she, soon chanel tote bag afterwards; ?suppose you were
to have one of the Miss Owens settled at Thornton Lacey; how
should you like it? Stranger things have happenedI dare say they
are trying for itAnd they are quite in the light, for it would be a
very pretty establishment for themI do not at all wonder or blame
themIt is everybody?s duty to do as well for themselves as they can
Sir Thomas Bertram?s son is somebody; and now he is in their own
lineTheir father is a clergyman, and their brother is a clergyman,
and they are all clergymen togetherHe is their lawful property; he
fairly belongs to themYou don?t speak, Fanny; Miss Price, you don?t
speakBut honestly now, do not you rather expect it than otherwise??
?No,? said Fanny stoutly, ?I do not expect it at all
?Not at all!? cried Miss Crawford with alacrity
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
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?No, I do not,? said Fanny softly, hoping she did not err either in
the belief or the acknowledgment of it
Her companion looked at her keenly; and gathering greater spirit
from the blush soon produced from such a look, only said, ?He is
best off as he is,? and turned the subject
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CHAPTER XXX
MISS CRAWFORD?S UNEASINESS was much lightened by this conversation,
and she walked home again in spirits which might have defied
almost another week of the same small party in the same bad weather,
had they been put to the proof; but as that very evening brought her
brother down from London again in quite, or more than quite, his
usual cheerfulness, she had nothing farther to try her ownHis still
refusing to tell her what he had gone for was but the promotion of
gaiety; a day before it might have irritated, but now it was a pleasant
joke?suspected cartier roadster autamatic only of concealing something planned as a pleasant
surprise to herselfAnd the next day did bring a surprise to her
Henry had said he should just go and ask the Bertrams how they
did, and be back in ten minutes, but he was gone above an hour;
and when his sister, who had been waiting for him to walk with her
in the garden, met him at last most impatiently in the sweep, and
cried out, ?My dear Henry, where can you have been all this time??
he had only to say that he had been sitting with Lady Bertram and
Fanny
?Sitting with them an hour and a half!? exclaimed Mary
But this was only the beginning of her surprise
?Yes, Mary,? said he, drawing her arm within his, and walking
along the sweep as if not knowing where he was: ?I could not get
away sooner; Fanny looked so lovely! I am quite determined, Mary
My mind is entirely made upWill it astonish you? No: you must be
aware that I am quite determined to marry Fanny Price
The surprise was now complete; for, in spite of whatever his consciousness
might suggest, a suspicion of his having any such views
had never entered his sister?s imagination; and she looked so truly
the astonishment she felt, that he was obliged to repeat what he had
said, and more fully and more solemnlyThe conviction of his de254
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termination once admitted, it was not unwelcomeThere was even
pleasure with the surpriseMary was in a state of mind to rejoice in
a connexion with the Bertram family, and to be not displeased with
her brother?s marrying a little beneath him
?Yes, Mary,? was Henry?s concluding assurance
You know with what idle designs I began; but this is the end of
themI have, I flatter myself, made no inconsiderable progress in
her affections; but my own are entirely fixed
?Lucky, lucky girl!? cried Mary, as soon as she could speak; prada bowler handbag ?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 itYou will have a sweet little wife; all gratitude and
devotionExactly what you deserveWhat an amazing match for
her! MrsNorris often talks of her luck; what will she say now? The
delight of all the family, indeed! And she has some true friends in it!
How they will rejoice! But tell me all about it! Talk to me for ever
When did you begin to think seriously about her??
Nothing could be more impossible than to answer such a question,
though nothing could be more agreeable than to have it asked
?How the pleasing plague had stolen on him? he could not say; and
before he had expressed the same sentiment with a little variation of
words three times over, his sister eagerly interrupted him with, ?Ah,
my dear Henry, and this is what took you to London! This was your
business! You chose to consult the Admiral before you made up
your mind
But this he stoutly deniedHe knew his uncle too well to consult
him on any matrimonial schemeThe Admiral hated marriage, and
thought it never pardonable in a young man of independent fortune
?When Fanny is known to him,? continued Henry, ?he will doat
on herShe is exactly the woman to do away every prejudice of such
a man as the Admiral, for she he would describe, if indeed he has
now delicacy of language enough to embody his own ideasBut till
it is absolutely settled?settled beyond all interference, he shall know
nothing of the matterNo, Mary, you are quite mistakenYou have
not discovered my business yet
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?Well, well, I am satisfiedI know now to whom it must relate,
and am in no hurry for the restFanny rolex watches for women Price! wonderful, quite wonderful!
That Mansfield should have done so much for?that you
should have found your fate in Mansfield! But you are quite right;
you could not have chosen betterThere is not a better girl in the
world, and you do not want for fortune; and as to her connexions,
they are more than goodThe Bertrams are undoubtedly some of
the first people in this countryShe is niece to Sir Thomas Bertram;
that will be enough for the world
What are your plans? Does she know her own happiness??
?No
?What are you waiting for??
?For?for very little more than opportunityMary, she is not like
her cousins; but I think I shall not ask in vainWere you even less pleasing?supposing her
not to love you already (of which, however, I can have little doubt)?
you would be safeThe gentleness and gratitude of her disposition
would secure her all your own immediatelyFrom my soul I do not
think she would marry you without love; that is, if there is a girl in
the world capable of being uninfluenced by ambition, I can suppose
it her; but ask her to love you, and she will never have the heart
to refuse
As soon as her eagerness could rest in silence, he was as happy to
tell as she could be to listen; and a conversation followed almost as
deeply interesting to her as to himself, though he had in fact nothing
to relate but his own sensations, nothing to dwell on but Fanny?s
charmsFanny?s beauty of face and figure, Fanny?s graces of manner
and goodness of heart, were the exhaustless themeThe gentleness,
modesty, and sweetness of her character were warmly expatiated on;
that sweetness which makes so essential a part of every woman?s
worth in the judgment of man, that though he sometimes loves
where it is not, he can never believe it absentHer temper he had
good reason to depend on and to rolex 18k watches prais |
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