96352wrts5
She speaks of her brother with a very pleasing...
06:56, 2010-Jan-31
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She speaks of her brother with a very pleasing affection
?Yes, except as to his writing her such short lettersShe made me
almost laugh; but I cannot rate so very highly the love or goodnature
of a brother who will not give himself the trouble of writing
anything worth reading to his sisters, when they are separatedI am
sure William would never have used me so, under any circumstances
And what right had she to suppose that you would not write long
letters when you were absent??
?The right of a lively mind, Fanny, seizing whatever may contribute
to its own amusement or that of others; perfectly allowable,
when untinctured by ill-humour or roughness; and there is not a
shadow of either in the countenance or manner of Miss Crawford:
nothing sharp, or loud, or coarseShe is perfectly feminine, except
m the instances we have been speaking ofThere she cannot be
justifiedI am glad you saw it all as I did
Having formed her mind and gained her affections, he had a good
chance of her thinking like him; though at this period, and on this
subject, there began now to be some danger of dissimilarity, for he
was in a line of admiration of Miss Crawford, which might lead
him where Fanny could not followMiss Crawford?s attractions did
not lessenThe harp arrived, and rather added to her beauty, wit,
and good-humour; for she played with the greatest obligingness,
with an expression and taste which were peculiarly becoming, and
there was something clever to be said at the close of every airEdmund
was at the Parsonage every day, to be indulged with his favourite
instrument: one morning secured an invitation for the next; for the
lady could not cheap louis vuitton purse be unwilling to have a listener, and every thing was
soon in a fair train
A young woman, pretty, lively, with a harp as elegant as herself,
and both placed near a window, cut down to the ground, and opening
on a little lawn, surrounded by shrubs in the rich foliage of
57
Jane Austen
summer, was enough to catch any man?s heartThe season, the scene,
the air, were all favourable to tenderness and sentimentGrant
and her tambour frame were not without their use: it was all in
harmony; and as everything will turn to account when love is once
set going, even the sandwich tray, and DrGrant doing the honours
of it, were worth looking atWithout studying the business, however,
or knowing what he was about, Edmund was beginning, at the
end of a week of such intercourse, to be a good deal in love; and to
the credit of the lady it may be added that, without his being a man
of the world or an elder brother, without any of the arts of flattery
or the gaieties of small talk, he began to be agreeable to herShe felt
it to be so, though she had not foreseen, and could hardly understand
it; for he was not pleasant by any common rule: he talked no
nonsense; he paid no compliments; his opinions were unbending,
his attentions tranquil and simpleThere was a charm, perhaps, in
his sincerity, his steadiness, his integrity, which Miss Crawford might
be equal to feel, though not equal to discuss with herselfShe did
not think very much about it, however: he pleased her for the present;
she liked to have him near her; it was enough
Fanny could not wonder that Edmund was at the Parsonage every
morning; she would gladly have been there too, might she black chanel tote have
gone in uninvited and unnoticed, to hear the harp; neither could
she wonder that, when the evening stroll was over, and the two
families parted again, he should think it right to attend MrsGrant
and her sister to their home, while MrCrawford was devoted to the
ladies of the Park; but she thought it a very bad exchange; and if
Edmund were not there to mix the wine and water for her, would
rather go without it than notShe was a little surprised that he could
spend so many hours with Miss Crawford, and not see more of the
sort of fault which he had already observed, and of which she was
almost always reminded by a something of the same nature whenever
she was in her company; but so it wasEdmund was fond of
speaking to her of Miss Crawford, but he seemed to think it enough
that the Admiral had since been spared; and she scrupled to point
out her own remarks to him, lest it should appear like ill-nature
The first actual pain which Miss Crawford occasioned her was the
consequence of an inclination to learn to ride, which the former
58
Mansfield Park
caught, soon after her being settled at Mansfield, from the example
of the young ladies at the Park, and which, when Edmund?s acquaintance
with her increased, led to his encouraging the wish, and
the offer of his own quiet mare for the purpose of her first attempts,
as the best fitted for a beginner that either stable could furnishNo
pain, no injury, however, was designed by him to his cousin in this
offer: she was not to lose a day?s exercise by itThe mare was only to
be taken down to the Parsonage half an hour before her ride were to
begin; and Fanny, on its being first omega ladies watch constellation proposed, so far from feeling
slighted, was almost over-powered with gratitude that he should be
asking her leave for it
Miss Crawford made her first essay with great credit to herself,
and no inconvenience to FannyEdmund, who had taken down the
mare and presided at the whole, returned with it in excellent time,
before either Fanny or the steady old coachman, who always attended
her when she rode without her cousins, were ready to set
forwardThe second day?s trial was not so guiltlessMiss Crawford?s
enjoyment of riding was such that she did not know how to leave
offActive and fearless, and though rather small, strongly made, she
seemed formed for a horsewoman; and to the pure genuine pleasure
of the exercise, something was probably added in Edmund?s attendance
and instructions, and something more in the conviction of
very much surpassing her sex in general by her early progress, to
make her unwilling to dismountFanny was ready and waiting, and
MrsNorris was beginning to scold her for not being gone, and still
no horse was announced, no Edmund appearedTo avoid her aunt,
and look for him, she went out
The houses, though scarcely half a mile apart, were not within
sight of each other; but, by walking fifty yards from the hall door,
she could look down the park, and command a view of the Parsonage
and all its demesnes, gently rising beyond the village road; and
in DrGrant?s meadow she immediately saw the group?Edmund
and Miss Crawford both on horse-back, riding side by side, DrCrawford, with two or three grooms, standing
about and looking onA happy party it appeared to her, all interested
in one object: cheerful beyond a doubt, for swiss replica rolex the sound of merriment
ascended even to herIt was a sound which did not make her
59
Jane Austen
cheerful; she wondered that Edmund should forget her, and felt a
pangShe could not turn her eyes from the meadow; she could not
help watching all that passedAt first Miss Crawford and her companion
made the circuit of the field, which was not small, at a foot?s
pace; then, at her apparent suggestion, they rose into a canter; and
to Fanny?s timid nature it was most astonishing to see how well she
satAfter a few minutes they stopped entirelyEdmund was close to
her; he was speaking to her; he was evidently directing her management
of the bridle; he had hold of her hand; she saw it, or the
imagination supplied what the eye could not reachShe
must not wonder at all this; what could be more natural than that
Edmund should be making himself useful, and proving his goodnature
by any one? She could not but think, indeed, that Mr
Crawford might as well have saved him the trouble; that it would
have been particularly proper and becoming in a brother to have
done it himself; but MrCrawford, with all his boasted good-nature,
and all his coachmanship, probably knew nothing of the matter,
and had no active kindness in comparison of EdmundShe began
to think it rather hard upon the mare to have such double duty;
if she were forgotten, the poor mare should be remembered
Her feelings for one and the other were soon a little tranquillised
by seeing the party in the meadow disperse, and Miss Crawford still
on horseback, but attended by Edmund on foot, pass through a
gate into the lane, and so into the park, and make towards the spot
where she chanel wholesale purse stood
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