Chapter 31

by Jane Austen

　　Mr. and Mrs. Morland's surprise on being appliedto by Mr. Tilney for their consent to his marrying theirdaughter was, for a few minutes, considerable, it havingnever entered their heads to suspect an attachmenton either side; but as nothing, after all, could bemore natural than Catherine's being beloved, they soonlearnt to consider it with only the happy agitation ofgratified pride, and, as far as they alone were concerned,had not a single objection to start. His pleasingmanners and good sense were self-evident recommendations;and having never heard evil of him, it was not their wayto suppose any evil could be told. Goodwill supplying theplace of experience, his character needed no attestation."Catherine would make a sad, heedless young housekeeperto be sure," was her mother's foreboding remark; but quickwas the consolation of there being nothing like practice.

　　There was but one obstacle, in short, to be mentioned;but till that one was removed, it must be impossible forthem to sanction the engagement. Their tempers were mild,but their principles were steady, and while his parentso expressly forbade the connection, they could not allowthemselves to encourage it. That the general shouldcome forward to solicit the alliance, or that he shouldeven very heartily approve it, they were not refinedenough to make any parading stipulation; but the decentappearance of consent must be yielded, and that onceobtained--and their own hearts made them trust that itcould not be very long denied--their willing approbationwas instantly to follow. His consent was all that theywished for. They were no more inclined than entitledto demand his money. Of a very considerable fortune,his son was, by marriage settlements, eventually secure;his present income was an income of independence and comfort,and under every pecuniary view, it was a match beyondthe claims of their daughter.

　　The young people could not be surprised at a decisionlike this. They felt and they deplored--but they couldnot resent it; and they parted, endeavouring to hopethat such a change in the general, as each believedalmost impossible, might speedily take place, to unitethem again in the fullness of privileged affection.Henry returned to what was now his only home, to watchover his young plantations, and extend his improvementsfor her sake, to whose share in them he lookedanxiously forward; and Catherine remained at Fullertonto cry. Whether the torments of absence were softenedby a clandestine correspondence, let us not inquire.Mr. and Mrs. Morland never did--they had been too kindto exact any promise; and whenever Catherine receiveda letter, as, at that time, happened pretty often,they always looked another way.

　　The anxiety, which in this state of their attachmentmust be the portion of Henry and Catherine, and of allwho loved either, as to its final event, can hardly extend,I fear, to the bosom of my readers, who will seein the tell-tale compression of the pages before them,that we are all hastening together to perfect felicity.The means by which their early marriage was effected canbe the only doubt: what probable circumstance could workupon a temper like the general's? The circumstance whichchiefly availed was the marriage of his daughter with a manof fortune and consequence, which took place in the courseof the summer--an accession of dignity that threw himinto a fit of good humour, from which he did not recovertill after Eleanor had obtained his forgiveness of Henry,and his permission for him "to be a fool if he liked it!"

　　The marriage of Eleanor Tilney, her removal fromall the evils of such a home as Northanger had beenmade by Henry's banishment, to the home of her choiceand the man of her choice, is an event which I expectto give general satisfaction among all her acquaintance.My own joy on the occasion is very sincere. I know no onemore entitled, by unpretending merit, or better preparedby habitual suffering, to receive and enjoy felicity.Her partiality for this gentleman was not of recent origin;and he had been long withheld only by inferiority ofsituation from addressing her. His unexpected accessionto title and fortune had removed all his difficulties;and never had the general loved his daughter so wellin all her hours of companionship, utility, and patientendurance as when he first hailed her "Your Ladyship!"Her husband was really deserving of her; independent ofhis peerage, his wealth, and his attachment, being toa precision the most charming young man in the world.Any further definition of his merits must be unnecessary;the most charming young man in the world is instantlybefore the imagination of us all. Concerning the onein question, therefore, I have only to add--awarethat the rules of composition forbid the introductionof a character not connected with my fable--that this wasthe very gentleman whose negligent servant left behind himthat collection of washing-bills, resulting from a longvisit at Northanger, by which my heroine was involved inone of her most alarming adventures.

　　The influence of the viscount and viscountessin their brother's behalf was assisted by that rightunderstanding of Mr. Morland's circumstances which,as soon as the general would allow himself to be informed,they were qualified to give. It taught him that he had beenscarcely more misled by Thorpe's first boast of the familywealth than by his subsequent malicious overthrow of it;that in no sense of the word were they necessitous or poor,and that Catherine would have three thousand pounds.This was so material an amendment of his late expectationsthat it greatly contributed to smooth the descent ofhis pride; and by no means without its effect was theprivate intelligence, which he was at some pains to procure,that the Fullerton estate, being entirely at the disposalof its present proprietor, was consequently open to everygreedy speculation.

　　On the strength of this, the general, soon afterEleanor's marriage, permitted his son to return to Northanger,and thence made him the bearer of his consent,very courteously worded in a page full of empty professionsto Mr. Morland. The event which it authorized soonfollowed: Henry and Catherine were married, the bells rang,and everybody smiled; and, as this took place withina twelvemonth from the first day of their meeting,it will not appear, after all the dreadful delays occasionedby the general's cruelty, that they were essentially hurtby it. To begin perfect happiness at the respectiveages of twenty-six and eighteen is to do pretty well;and professing myself moreover convinced that the general'sunjust interference, so far from being really injuriousto their felicity, was perhaps rather conducive to it,by improving their knowledge of each other, and addingstrength to their attachment, I leave it to be settled,by whomsoever it may concern, whether the tendency ofthis work be altogether to recommend parental tyranny,or reward filial disobedience.