Without shutting herself up from her family,or leaving the house in determined solitude to avoid them,or lying awake the whole night to indulge meditation,Elinor found every day afforded her leisure enough to think of Edward,and of Edward’s behaviour,in every possible variety which the different state of her spirits at different times could produce,—with tenderness, pity, approbation, censure, and doubt. There were moments in abundance, when, if not by the absence of her mother and sisters, at least by the nature of their employments, conversation was forbidden among them, and every effect of solitude was produced. Her mind was inevitably at liberty; her thoughts could not be chained elsewhere; and the past and the future, on a subject so interesting, must be before her, must force her attention, and engross her memory, her reflection, and her fancy.
From a reverie of this kind,as she sat at her drawing-table,she was roused one morning,soon after Edward’s leaving them,by the arrival of company.She happened to be quite alone.The closing of the little gate,at the entrance of the green court in front of the house,drew her eyes to the window,and she saw a large party walking up to the door.Amongst them were Sir John and Lady Middleton and Mrs.Jennings, but there were two others,a gentleman and lady, who were quite unknown to her.She was sitting near the window,and as soon as Sir John perceived her,he left the rest of the party to the ceremony of knocking at the door,and stepping across the turf,obliged her to open the casement to speak to him,though the space was so short between the door and the window,as to make it hardly possible to speak at one without being heard at the other.
“Well,” said he, “we have brought you some strangers.How do you like them?”
“Hush!they will hear you.”
“Never mind if they do. It is only the Palmers.Charlotte is very pretty, I can tell you.You may see her if you look this way.”
As Elinor was certain of seeing her in a couple of minutes,without taking that liberty, she begged to be excused.
“Where is Marianne?Has she run away because we are come?I see her instrument is open.”
“She is walking, I believe.”
They were now joined by Mrs. Jennings,who had not patience enough to wait till the door was opened before she told _her_ story. She came hallooing to the window, “How do you do, my dear?How does Mrs. Dashwood do?And where are your sisters?What!all alone!you will be glad of a little company to sit with you.I have brought my other son and daughter to see you.Only think of their coming so suddenly!I thought I heard a carriage last night,while we were drinking our tea,but it never entered my head that it could be them.I thought of nothing but whether it might not be Colonel Brandon come back again; so I said to Sir John, I do think I hear a carriage; perhaps it is Colonel Brandon come back again—”
Elinor was obliged to turn from her,in the middle of her story,to receive the rest of the party;Lady Middleton introduced the two strangers; Mrs.Dashwood and Margaret came down stairs at the same time,and they all sat down to look at one another,while Mrs. Jennings continued her story as she walked through the passage into the parlour, attended by Sir John.
Mrs. Palmer was several years younger than Lady Middleton,and totally unlike her in every respect.She was short and plump, had a very pretty face,and the finest expression of good humour in it that could possibly be.Her manners were by no means so elegant as her sister’s,but they were much more prepossessing.She came in with a smile,smiled all the time of her visit,except when she laughed, and smiled when she went away.Her husband was a grave looking young man of five or six and twenty,with an air of more fashion and sense than his wife,but of less willingness to please or be pleased.He entered the room with a look of self-consequence,slightly bowed to the ladies, without speaking a word,and, after briefly surveying them and their apartments,took up a newspaper from the table,and continued to read it as long as he staid.
Mrs. Palmer, on the contrary,who was strongly endowed by nature with a turn for being uniformly civil and happy, was hardly seated before her admiration of the parlour and every thing in it burst forth.
“Well!what a delightful room this is!I never saw anything so charming!Only think, Mama, how it is improved since I was here last!I always thought it such a sweet place, ma’am!(turning to Mrs. Dashwood) but you have made it so charming!Only look, sister, how delightful every thing is!How I should like such a house for myself!Should not you, Mr. Palmer?”
Mr. Palmer made her no answer,and did not even raise his eyes from the newspaper.
“Mr. Palmer does not hear me,” said she, laughing;“he never does sometimes. It is so ridiculous!”
This was quite a new idea to Mrs. Dashwood;she had never been used to find wit in the inattention of any one,and could not help looking with surprise at them both.
Mrs. Jennings, in the meantime,talked on as loud as she could,and continued her account of their surprise,the evening before, on seeing their friends,without ceasing till every thing was told. Mrs.Palmer laughed heartily at the recollection of their astonishment,and every body agreed, two or three times over,that it had been quite an agreeable surprise.
“You may believe how glad we all were to see them,” added Mrs. Jennings, leaning forward towards Elinor,and speaking in a low voice as if she meant to be heard by no one else,though they were seated on different sides of the room;“but, however, I can’t help wishing they had not travelled quite so fast,nor made such a long journey of it,for they came all round by London upon account of some business,for you know (nodding significantly and pointing to her daughter) it was wrong in her situation. I wanted her to stay at home and rest this morning, but she would come with us; she longed so much to see you all!”
Mrs. Palmer laughed,and said it would not do her any harm.
“She expects to be confined in February,” continued Mrs. Jennings.
Lady Middleton could no longer endure such a conversation,and therefore exerted herself to ask Mr.Palmer if there was any news in the paper.
“No, none at all,” he replied, and read on.
“Here comes Marianne,” cried Sir John. “Now, Palmer,you shall see a monstrous pretty girl.”
He immediately went into the passage,opened the front door, and ushered her in himself. Mrs.Jennings asked her, as soon as she appeared,if she had not been to Allenham; and Mrs.Palmer laughed so heartily at the question,as to show she understood it. Mr.Palmer looked up on her entering the room,stared at her some minutes,and then returned to his newspaper. Mrs.Palmer’s eye was now caught by the drawings which hung round the room.She got up to examine them.
“Oh!dear, how beautiful these are!Well!how delightful!Do but look, mama, how sweet!I declare they are quite charming;I could look at them for ever.” And then sitting down again,she very soon forgot that there were any such things in the room.
When Lady Middleton rose to go away, Mr.Palmer rose also, laid down the newspaper,stretched himself and looked at them all around.
“My love, have you been asleep?” said his wife, laughing.
He made her no answer; and only observed,after again examining the room,that it was very low pitched,and that the ceiling was crooked. He then made his bow,and departed with the rest.