“I do not know whether it ought to be so,but certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way. Wickedness is always wickedness, but folly is not always folly.—It depends upon the character of those who handle it. Mr. Knightley, he is _not_ a trifling, silly young man. If he were, he would have done this differently. He would either have gloried in the achievement, or been ashamed of it. There would have been either the ostentation of a coxcomb, or the evasions of a mind too weak to defend its own vanities.—No, I am perfectly sure that he is not trifling or silly.”
With Tuesday came the agreeable prospect of seeing him again,and for a longer time than hitherto;of judging of his general manners, and by inference,of the meaning of his manners towards herself;of guessing how soon it might be necessary for her to throw coldness into her air; and of fancying what the observations of all those might be, who were now seeing them together for the first time.
She meant to be very happy,in spite of the scene being laid at Mr. Cole’s;and without being able to forget that among the failings of Mr.Elton, even in the days of his favour,none had disturbed her more than his propensity to dine with Mr. Cole.
Her father’s comfort was amply secured, Mrs.Bates as well as Mrs. Goddard being able to come;and her last pleasing duty, before she left the house,was to pay her respects to them as they sat together after dinner;and while her father was fondly noticing the beauty of her dress,to make the two ladies all the amends in her power,by helping them to large slices of cake and full glasses of wine,for whatever unwilling self-denial his care of their constitution might have obliged them to practise during the meal.—She had provided a plentiful dinner for them; she wished she could know that they had been allowed to eat it.
She followed another carriage to Mr. Cole’s door;and was pleased to see that it was Mr. Knightley’s;for Mr. Knightley keeping no horses,having little spare money and a great deal of health,activity, and independence, was too apt,in Emma’s opinion, to get about as he could,and not use his carriage so often as became the owner of Donwell Abbey.She had an opportunity now of speaking her approbation while warm from her heart, for he stopped to hand her out.
“This is coming as you should do,” said she;“like a gentleman.—I am quite glad to see you.”
He thanked her, observing,“How lucky that we should arrive at the same moment!for, if we had met first in the drawing-room,I doubt whether you would have discerned me to be more of a gentleman than usual.—You might not have distinguished how I came, by my look or manner.”
“Yes I should, I am sure I should.There is always a look of consciousness or bustle when people come in a way which they know to be beneath them. You think you carry it off very well, I dare say, but with you it is a sort of bravado, an air of affected unconcern; I always observe it whenever I meet you under those circumstances. _Now_ you have nothing to try for. You are not afraid of being supposed ashamed. You are not striving to look taller than any body else. _Now_ I shall really be very happy to walk into the same room with you.”
“Nonsensical girl!” was his reply, but not at all in anger.
Emma had as much reason to be satisfied with the rest of the party as with Mr.Knightley. She was received with a cordial respect which could not but please,and given all the consequence she could wish for.When the Westons arrived, the kindest looks of love,the strongest of admiration were for her,from both husband and wife;the son approached her with a cheerful eagerness which marked her as his peculiar object, and at dinner she found him seated by her—and, as she firmly believed, not without some dexterity on his side.
The party was rather large,as it included one other family,a proper unobjectionable country family,whom the Coles had the advantage of naming among their acquaintance,and the male part of Mr. Cox’s family,the lawyer of Highbury.The less worthy females were to come in the evening,with Miss Bates, Miss Fairfax, and Miss Smith;but already, at dinner,they were too numerous for any subject of conversation to be general;and, while politics and Mr. Elton were talked over,Emma could fairly surrender all her attention to the pleasantness of her neighbour. The first remote sound to which she felt herself obliged to attend, was the name of Jane Fairfax. Mrs. Cole seemed to be relating something of her that was expected to be very interesting. She listened, and found it well worth listening to. That very dear part of Emma, her fancy, received an amusing supply. Mrs. Cole was telling that she had been calling on Miss Bates, and as soon as she entered the room had been struck by the sight of a pianoforte—a very elegant looking instrument—not a grand, but a large-sized square pianoforte; and the substance of the story, the end of all the dialogue which ensued of surprize, and inquiry, and congratulations on her side, and explanations on Miss Bates’s, was, that this pianoforte had arrived from Broadwood’s the day before, to the great astonishment of both aunt and niece—entirely unexpected; that at first, by Miss Bates’s account, Jane herself was quite at a loss, quite bewildered to think who could possibly have ordered it—but now, they were both perfectly satisfied that it could be from only one quarter;—of course it must be from Colonel Campbell.
“One can suppose nothing else,” added Mrs. Cole,“and I was only surprized that there could ever have been a doubt.But Jane, it seems, had a letter from them very lately,and not a word was said about it.She knows their ways best;but I should not consider their silence as any reason for their not meaning to make the present. They might chuse to surprize her.”
Mrs. Cole had many to agree with her;every body who spoke on the subject was equally convinced that it must come from Colonel Campbell, and equally rejoiced that such a present had been made; and there were enough ready to speak to allow Emma to think her own way, and still listen to Mrs. Cole.
“I declare, I do not know when I have heard any thing that has given me more satisfaction!—It always has quite hurt me that Jane Fairfax,who plays so delightfully,should not have an instrument. It seemed quite a shame,especially considering how many houses there are where fine instruments are absolutely thrown away. This is like giving ourselves a slap, to be sure!and it was but yesterday I was telling Mr. Cole,I really was ashamed to look at our new grand pianoforte in the drawing-room,while I do not know one note from another,and our little girls, who are but just beginning,perhaps may never make any thing of it;and there is poor Jane Fairfax,who is mistress of music,has not any thing of the nature of an instrument,not even the pitifullest old spinet in the world,to amuse herself with.—I was saying this to Mr.Cole but yesterday, and he quite agreed with me;only he is so particularly fond of music that he could not help indulging himself in the purchase, hoping that some of our good neighbours might be so obliging occasionally to put it to a better use than we can; and that really is the reason why the instrument was bought—or else I am sure we ought to be ashamed of it.—We are in great hopes that Miss Woodhouse may be prevailed with to try it this evening.”