Chapter 36

by Jane Austen

　　Within a few days after this meeting, the newspapersannounced to the world, that the lady of Thomas Palmer,Esq. was safely delivered of a son and heir; a veryinteresting and satisfactory paragraph, at least to allthose intimate connections who knew it before.This event, highly important to Mrs. Jennings's happiness,produced a temporary alteration in the disposal of her time,and influenced, in a like degree, the engagementsof her young friends; for as she wished to be as muchas possible with Charlotte, she went thither every morningas soon as she was dressed, and did not return till latein the evening; and the Miss Dashwoods, at the particularrequest of the Middletons, spent the whole of every day,in every day in Conduit Street. For their own comfortthey would much rather have remained, at least allthe morning, in Mrs. Jennings's house; but it was nota thing to be urged against the wishes of everybody.Their hours were therefore made over to Lady Middletonand the two Miss Steeles, by whom their company, in factwas as little valued, as it was professedly sought.They had too much sense to be desirable companionsto the former; and by the latter they were considered witha jealous eye, as intruding on their ground, and sharingthe kindness which they wanted to monopolize. Though nothingcould be more polite than Lady Middleton's behaviour toElinor and Marianne, she did not really like them at all.Because they neither flattered herself nor her children,she could not believe them good-natured; and because theywere fond of reading, she fancied them satirical: perhapswithout exactly knowing what it was to be satirical;but that did not signify. It was censure in common use,and easily given.Their presence was a restraint both on her and on Lucy.It checked the idleness of one, and the business of the other.Lady Middleton was ashamed of doing nothing before them,and the flattery which Lucy was proud to think ofand administer at other times, she feared they would despiseher for offering. Miss Steele was the least discomposedof the three, by their presence; and it was in their powerto reconcile her to it entirely. Would either of themonly have given her a full and minute account of the wholeaffair between Marianne and Mr. Willoughby, she wouldhave thought herself amply rewarded for the sacrificeof the best place by the fire after dinner, which theirarrival occasioned. But this conciliation was not granted;for though she often threw out expressions of pity for hersister to Elinor, and more than once dropt a reflectionon the inconstancy of beaux before Marianne, no effectwas produced, but a look of indifference from the former,or of disgust in the latter. An effort even yet lightermight have made her their friend. Would they only havelaughed at her about the Doctor! But so little were they,anymore than the others, inclined to oblige her,that if Sir John dined from home, she might spend a wholeday without hearing any other raillery on the subject,than what she was kind enough to bestow on herself.All these jealousies and discontents, however, were sototally unsuspected by Mrs. Jennings, that she thoughtit a delightful thing for the girls to be together;and generally congratulated her young friends every night,on having escaped the company of a stupid old woman so long.She joined them sometimes at Sir John's, sometimesat her own house; but wherever it was, she always camein excellent spirits, full of delight and importance,attributing Charlotte's well doing to her own care, and readyto give so exact, so minute a detail of her situation,as only Miss Steele had curiosity enough to desire.One thing did disturb her; and of that she made herdaily complaint. Mr. Palmer maintained the common,but unfatherly opinion among his sex, of all infants being alike;and though she could plainly perceive, at different times,the most striking resemblance between this baby and everyone of his relations on both sides, there was no convincinghis father of it; no persuading him to believe that itwas not exactly like every other baby of the same age;nor could he even be brought to acknowledge the simpleproposition of its being the finest child in the world.I come now to the relation of a misfortune,which about this time befell Mrs. John Dashwood.It so happened that while her two sisters withMrs. Jennings were first calling on her in Harley Street,another of her acquaintance had dropt in--a circumstancein itself not apparently likely to produce evil to her.But while the imaginations of other people will carrythem away to form wrong judgments of our conduct,and to decide on it by slight appearances, one's happinessmust in some measure be always at the mercy of chance.In the present instance, this last-arrived lady allowedher fancy to so far outrun truth and probability,that on merely hearing the name of the Miss Dashwoods,and understanding them to be Mr. Dashwood's sisters,she immediately concluded them to be staying in Harley Street;and this misconstruction produced within a dayor two afterwards, cards of invitation for themas well as for their brother and sister, to a smallmusical party at her house. The consequence of which was,that Mrs. John Dashwood was obliged to submit not onlyto the exceedingly great inconvenience of sending hercarriage for the Miss Dashwoods, but, what was still worse,must be subject to all the unpleasantness of appearingto treat them with attention: and who could tell that theymight not expect to go out with her a second time? The powerof disappointing them, it was true, must always be her's.But that was not enough; for when people are determinedon a mode of conduct which they know to be wrong, they feelinjured by the expectation of any thing better from them.Marianne had now been brought by degrees, so muchinto the habit of going out every day, that it was becomea matter of indifference to her, whether she went or not:and she prepared quietly and mechanically for everyevening's engagement, though without expecting the smallestamusement from any, and very often without knowing,till the last moment, where it was to take her.To her dress and appearance she was grown so perfectlyindifferent, as not to bestow half the consideration on it,during the whole of her toilet, which it received fromMiss Steele in the first five minutes of their beingtogether, when it was finished. Nothing escaped her minuteobservation and general curiosity; she saw every thing,and asked every thing; was never easy till she knew the priceof every part of Marianne's dress; could have guessed thenumber of her gowns altogether with better judgment thanMarianne herself, and was not without hopes of finding outbefore they parted, how much her washing cost per week,and how much she had every year to spend upon herself.The impertinence of these kind of scrutinies, moreover,was generally concluded with a compliment, whichthough meant as its douceur, was considered by Marianneas the greatest impertinence of all; for after undergoingan examination into the value and make of her gown,the colour of her shoes, and the arrangement of her hair,she was almost sure of being told that upon "her wordshe looked vastly smart, and she dared to say she wouldmake a great many conquests."With such encouragement as this, was she dismissedon the present occasion, to her brother's carriage;which they were ready to enter five minutes after itstopped at the door, a punctuality not very agreeableto their sister-in-law, who had preceded them to the houseof her acquaintance, and was there hoping for some delayon their part that might inconvenience either herselfor her coachman.The events of this evening were not very remarkable.The party, like other musical parties, comprehended agreat many people who had real taste for the performance,and a great many more who had none at all; and the performersthemselves were, as usual, in their own estimation,and that of their immediate friends, the first privateperformers in England.As Elinor was neither musical, nor affecting to be so,she made no scruple of turning her eyes from the grandpianoforte, whenever it suited her, and unrestrained evenby the presence of a harp, and violoncello, would fixthem at pleasure on any other object in the room. In oneof these excursive glances she perceived among a groupof young men, the very he, who had given them a lectureon toothpick-cases at Gray's. She perceived him soonafterwards looking at herself, and speaking familiarlyto her brother; and had just determined to find out hisname from the latter, when they both came towards her,and Mr. Dashwood introduced him to her as Mr. Robert Ferrars.He addressed her with easy civility, and twistedhis head into a bow which assured her as plainly aswords could have done, that he was exactly the coxcombshe had heard him described to be by Lucy. Happy hadit been for her, if her regard for Edward had dependedless on his own merit, than on the merit of his nearestrelations! For then his brother's bow must have giventhe finishing stroke to what the ill-humour of his motherand sister would have begun. But while she wonderedat the difference of the two young men, she did not findthat the emptiness of conceit of the one, put her outof all charity with the modesty and worth of the other.Why they were different, Robert exclaimed to her himselfin the course of a quarter of an hour's conversation;for, talking of his brother, and lamenting the extremegaucherie which he really believed kept him from mixingin proper society, he candidly and generously attributed itmuch less to any natural deficiency, than to the misfortuneof a private education; while he himself, though probablywithout any particular, any material superiorityby nature, merely from the advantage of a public school,was as well fitted to mix in the world as any other man."Upon my soul," he added, "I believe it is nothing more;and so I often tell my mother, when she is grievingabout it. 'My dear Madam,' I always say to her, 'you mustmake yourself easy. The evil is now irremediable,and it has been entirely your own doing. Why wouldyou be persuaded by my uncle, Sir Robert, against yourown judgment, to place Edward under private tuition,at the most critical time of his life? If you had only senthim to Westminster as well as myself, instead of sendinghim to Mr. Pratt's, all this would have been prevented.'This is the way in which I always consider the matter,and my mother is perfectly convinced of her error."Elinor would not oppose his opinion, because,whatever might be her general estimation of the advantageof a public school, she could not think of Edward'sabode in Mr. Pratt's family, with any satisfaction."You reside in Devonshire, I think,"--was hisnext observation, "in a cottage near Dawlish."Elinor set him right as to its situation;and it seemed rather surprising to him that anybodycould live in Devonshire, without living near Dawlish.He bestowed his hearty approbation however on theirspecies of house."For my own part," said he, "I am excessively fondof a cottage; there is always so much comfort, so muchelegance about them. And I protest, if I had any moneyto spare, I should buy a little land and build one myself,within a short distance of London, where I might drivemyself down at any time, and collect a few friendsabout me, and be happy. I advise every body who is goingto build, to build a cottage. My friend Lord Courtlandcame to me the other day on purpose to ask my advice,and laid before me three different plans of Bonomi's.I was to decide on the best of them. 'My dear Courtland,'said I, immediately throwing them all into the fire, 'do notadopt either of them, but by all means build a cottage.'And that I fancy, will be the end of it."Some people imagine that there can be no accommodations,no space in a cottage; but this is all a mistake.I was last month at my friend Elliott's, near Dartford.Lady Elliott wished to give a dance. 'But how can itbe done?' said she; 'my dear Ferrars, do tell me how itis to be managed. There is not a room in this cottagethat will hold ten couple, and where can the supper be?'I immediately saw that there could be no difficulty in it,so I said, 'My dear Lady Elliott, do not be uneasy.The dining parlour will admit eighteen couple with ease;card-tables may be placed in the drawing-room; the librarymay be open for tea and other refreshments; and let thesupper be set out in the saloon.' Lady Elliott was delightedwith the thought. We measured the dining-room, and foundit would hold exactly eighteen couple, and the affairwas arranged precisely after my plan. So that, in fact,you see, if people do but know how to set about it,every comfort may be as well enjoyed in a cottageas in the most spacious dwelling."Elinor agreed to it all, for she did not thinkhe deserved the compliment of rational opposition.As John Dashwood had no more pleasure in music than hiseldest sister, his mind was equally at liberty to fix onany thing else; and a thought struck him during the evening,which he communicated to his wife, for her approbation,when they got home. The consideration of Mrs. Dennison'smistake,in supposing his sisters their guests, had suggested thepropriety of their being really invited to become such,while Mrs. Jenning's engagements kept her from home.The expense would be nothing, the inconvenience not more;and it was altogether an attention which the delicacyof his conscience pointed out to be requisite to itscomplete enfranchisement from his promise to his father.Fanny was startled at the proposal."I do not see how it can be done," said she,"without affronting Lady Middleton, for they spend every daywith her; otherwise I should be exceedingly glad to do it.You know I am always ready to pay them any attentionin my power, as my taking them out this evening shews.But they are Lady Middleton's visitors. How can I ask themaway from her?"Her husband, but with great humility, did not seethe force of her objection. "They had already spent a weekin this manner in Conduit Street, and Lady Middletoncould not be displeased at their giving the same numberof days to such near relations."Fanny paused a moment, and then, with fresh vigor, said,"My love I would ask them with all my heart, if itwas in my power. But I had just settled within myselfto ask the Miss Steeles to spend a few days with us.They are very well behaved, good kind of girls; and I thinkthe attention is due to them, as their uncle did so verywell by Edward. We can ask your sisters some other year,you know; but the Miss Steeles may not be in town any more.I am sure you will like them; indeed, you do like them,you know, very much already, and so does my mother; and theyare such favourites with Harry!"Mr. Dashwood was convinced. He saw the necessityof inviting the Miss Steeles immediately, and his consciencewas pacified by the resolution of inviting his sistersanother year; at the same time, however, slyly suspectingthat another year would make the invitation needless,by bringing Elinor to town as Colonel Brandon's wife,and Marianne as their visitor.Fanny, rejoicing in her escape, and proud of the readywit that had procured it, wrote the next morning to Lucy,to request her company and her sister's, for some days,in Harley Street, as soon as Lady Middleton could spare them.This was enough to make Lucy really and reasonably happy.Mrs. Dashwood seemed actually working for her, herself;cherishing all her hopes, and promoting all her views!Such an opportunity of being with Edward and his family was,above all things, the most material to her interest,and such an invitation the most gratifying to herfeelings! It was an advantage that could not be toogratefully acknowledged, nor too speedily made use of;and the visit to Lady Middleton, which had not before hadany precise limits, was instantly discovered to have beenalways meant to end in two days' time.When the note was shown to Elinor, as it was within tenminutes after its arrival, it gave her, for the first time,some share in the expectations of Lucy; for such a markof uncommon kindness, vouchsafed on so short an acquaintance,seemed to declare that the good-will towards her arosefrom something more than merely malice against herself;and might be brought, by time and address, to doevery thing that Lucy wished. Her flattery had alreadysubdued the pride of Lady Middleton, and made an entryinto the close heart of Mrs. John Dashwood; and thesewere effects that laid open the probability of greater.The Miss Steeles removed to Harley Street, and allthat reached Elinor of their influence there, strengthenedher expectation of the event. Sir John, who called onthem more than once, brought home such accounts of thefavour they were in, as must be universally striking.Mrs. Dashwood had never been so much pleased with anyyoung women in her life, as she was with them; had giveneach of them a needle book made by some emigrant;called Lucy by her Christian name; and did not knowwhether she should ever be able to part with them.