Marianne was afraid of offending, and said no more on the subject;but the kind of approbation which Elinor described as excited in him by the drawings of other people,was very far from that rapturous delight, which, in her opinion, could alone be called taste. Yet,though smiling within herself at the mistake,she honoured her sister for that blind partiality to Edward which produced it.
“I hope, Marianne,” continued Elinor, “you do not consider him as deficient in general taste.Indeed, I think I may say that you cannot, for your behaviour to him is perfectly cordial,and if _that_ were your opinion, I am sure you could never be civil to him.”
Marianne hardly knew what to say. She would not wound the feelings of her sister on any account,and yet to say what she did not believe was impossible. At length she replied:
“Do not be offended, Elinor, if my praise of him is not in every thing equal to your sense of his merits.I have not had so many opportunities of estimating the minuter propensities of his mind,his inclinations and tastes, as you have;but I have the highest opinion in the world of his goodness and sense.I think him every thing that is worthy and amiable.”
“I am sure,” replied Elinor, with a smile,“that his dearest friends could not be dissatisfied with such commendation as that.I do not perceive how you could express yourself more warmly.”
Marianne was rejoiced to find her sister so easily pleased.
“Of his sense and his goodness,” continued Elinor, “no one can, I think, be in doubt,who has seen him often enough to engage him in unreserved conversation.The excellence of his understanding and his principles can be concealed only by that shyness which too often keeps him silent.You know enough of him to do justice to his solid worth. But of his minuter propensities,as you call them you have from peculiar circumstances been kept more ignorant than myself.He and I have been at times thrown a good deal together,while you have been wholly engrossed on the most affectionate principle by my mother.I have seen a great deal of him, have studied his sentiments and heard his opinion on subjects of literature and taste;and, upon the whole, I venture to pronounce that his mind is well-informed,enjoyment of books exceedingly great, his imagination lively, his observation just and correct,and his taste delicate and pure. His abilities in every respect improve as much upon acquaintance as his manners and person.At first sight, his address is certainly not striking;and his person can hardly be called handsome, till the expression of his eyes,which are uncommonly good, and the general sweetness of his countenance, is perceived. At present,I know him so well, that I think him really handsome; or at least, almost so. What say you, Marianne?”
“I shall very soon think him handsome, Elinor, if I do not now.When you tell me to love him as a brother, I shall no more see imperfection in his face, than I now do in his heart.”
Elinor started at this declaration, and was sorry for the warmth she had been betrayed into,in speaking of him. She felt that Edward stood very high in her opinion.She believed the regard to be mutual; but she required greater certainty of it to make Marianne’s conviction of their attachment agreeable to her.She knew that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment,they believed the next—that with them, to wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect.She tried to explain the real state of the case to her sister.
“I do not attempt to deny,” said she, “that I think very highly of him—that I greatly esteem, that I like him.”
Marianne here burst forth with indignation—
“Esteem him!Like him!Cold-hearted Elinor!Oh!worse than cold-hearted!Ashamed of being otherwise. Use those words again, and I will leave the room this moment.”
Elinor could not help laughing. “Excuse me,” said she;“and be assured that I meant no offence to you, by speaking, in so quiet a way, of my own feelings.Believe them to be stronger than I have declared; believe them, in short, to be such as his merit,and the suspicion—the hope of his affection for me may warrant, without imprudence or folly.But farther than this you must _not_ believe. I am by no means assured of his regard for me.There are moments when the extent of it seems doubtful; and till his sentiments are fully known,you cannot wonder at my wishing to avoid any encouragement of my own partiality,by believing or calling it more than it is.In my heart I feel little—scarcely any doubt of his preference.But there are other points to be considered besides his inclination.He is very far from being independent. What his mother really is we cannot know; but,from Fanny’s occasional mention of her conduct and opinions,we have never been disposed to think her amiable;and I am very much mistaken if Edward is not himself aware that there would be many difficulties in his way,if he were to wish to marry a woman who had not either a great fortune or high rank.”
Marianne was astonished to find how much the imagination of her mother and herself had outstripped the truth.
“And you really are not engaged to him!” said she. “Yet it certainly soon will happen. But two advantages will proceed from this delay._I_ shall not lose you so soon, and Edward will have greater opportunity of improving that natural taste for your favourite pursuit which must be so indispensably necessary to your future felicity. Oh!if he should be so far stimulated by your genius as to learn to draw himself, how delightful it would be!”
Elinor had given her real opinion to her sister.She could not consider her partiality for Edward in so prosperous a state as Marianne had believed it.There was, at times, a want of spirits about him which, if it did not denote indifference,spoke of something almost as unpromising. A doubt of her regard, supposing him to feel it,need not give him more than inquietude.It would not be likely to produce that dejection of mind which frequently attended him.A more reasonable cause might be found in the dependent situation which forbade the indulgence of his affection.She knew that his mother neither behaved to him so as to make his home comfortable at present,nor to give him any assurance that he might form a home for himself,without strictly attending to her views for his aggrandizement. With such a knowledge as this,it was impossible for Elinor to feel easy on the subject.She was far from depending on that result of his preference of her,which her mother and sister still considered as certain. Nay,the longer they were together the more doubtful seemed the nature of his regard; and sometimes,for a few painful minutes, she believed it to be no more than friendship.
But, whatever might really be its limits, it was enough, when perceived by his sister,to make her uneasy, and at the same time, (which was still more common,) to make her uncivil.She took the first opportunity of affronting her mother-in-law on the occasion,talking to her so expressively of her brother’s great expectations, of Mrs.Ferrars’s resolution that both her sons should marry well,and of the danger attending any young woman who attempted to _draw him in;_ that Mrs.Dashwood could neither pretend to be unconscious, nor endeavor to be calm.She gave her an answer which marked her contempt, and instantly left the room, resolving that,whatever might be the inconvenience or expense of so sudden a removal,her beloved Elinor should not be exposed another week to such insinuations.
In this state of her spirits, a letter was delivered to her from the post,which contained a proposal particularly well timed. It was the offer of a small house,on very easy terms, belonging to a relation of her own,a gentleman of consequence and property in Devonshire. The letter was from this gentleman himself,and written in the true spirit of friendly accommodation.He understood that she was in need of a dwelling;and though the house he now offered her was merely a cottage,he assured her that everything should be done to it which she might think necessary,if the situation pleased her. He earnestly pressed her,after giving the particulars of the house and garden, to come with her daughters to Barton Park,the place of his own residence, from whence she might judge, herself, whether Barton Cottage,for the houses were in the same parish, could, by any alteration, be made comfortable to her.He seemed really anxious to accommodate them and the whole of his letter was written in so friendly a style as could not fail of giving pleasure to his cousin;more especially at a moment when she was suffering under the cold and unfeeling behaviour of her nearer connections.She needed no time for deliberation or inquiry. Her resolution was formed as she read.The situation of Barton, in a county so far distant from Sussex as Devonshire, which,but a few hours before, would have been a sufficient objection to outweigh every possible advantage belonging to the place,was now its first recommendation. To quit the neighbourhood of Norland was no longer an evil;it was an object of desire; it was a blessing,in comparison of the misery of continuing her daughter-in-law’s guest;and to remove for ever from that beloved place would be less painful than to inhabit or visit it while such a woman was its mistress.She instantly wrote Sir John Middleton her acknowledgment of his kindness,and her acceptance of his proposal; and then hastened to show both letters to her daughters,that she might be secure of their approbation before her answer were sent.
Elinor had always thought it would be more prudent for them to settle at some distance from Norland,than immediately amongst their present acquaintance. On _that_ head, therefore,it was not for her to oppose her mother’s intention of removing into Devonshire. The house, too,as described by Sir John, was on so simple a scale, and the rent so uncommonly moderate,as to leave her no right of objection on either point; and, therefore,though it was not a plan which brought any charm to her fancy,though it was a removal from the vicinity of Norland beyond her wishes,she made no attempt to dissuade her mother from sending a letter of acquiescence.
CHAPTER V.
No sooner was her answer dispatched, than Mrs.Dashwood indulged herself in the pleasure of announcing to her son-in-law and his wife that she was provided with a house,and should incommode them no longer than till every thing were ready for her inhabiting it.They heard her with surprise. Mrs. John Dashwood said nothing;but her husband civilly hoped that she would not be settled far from Norland.She had great satisfaction in replying that she was going into Devonshire.—Edward turned hastily towards her,on hearing this, and, in a voice of surprise and concern, which required no explanation to her, repeated, “Devonshire!Are you, indeed, going there?So far from hence!And to what part of it?” She explained the situation. It was within four miles northward of Exeter.
“It is but a cottage,” she continued, “but I hope to see many of my friends in it.A room or two can easily be added; and if my friends find no difficulty in travelling so far to see me,I am sure I will find none in accommodating them.”
She concluded with a very kind invitation to Mr. and Mrs. John Dashwood to visit her at Barton;and to Edward she gave one with still greater affection.Though her late conversation with her daughter-in-law had made her resolve on remaining at Norland no longer than was unavoidable,it had not produced the smallest effect on her in that point to which it principally tended.To separate Edward and Elinor was as far from being her object as ever; and she wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood, by this pointed invitation to her brother,how totally she disregarded her disapprobation of the match.
Mr. John Dashwood told his mother again and again how exceedingly sorry he was that she had taken a house at such a distance from Norland as to prevent his being of any service to her in removing her furniture. He really felt conscientiously vexed on the occasion; for the very exertion to which he had limited the performance of his promise to his father was by this arrangement rendered impracticable.—The furniture was all sent around by water. It chiefly consisted of household linen, plate, china, and books, with a handsome pianoforte of Marianne’s. Mrs. John Dashwood saw the packages depart with a sigh: she could not help feeling it hard that as Mrs. Dashwood’s income would be so trifling in comparison with their own, she should have any handsome article of furniture.
Mrs. Dashwood took the house for a twelvemonth; it was ready furnished,and she might have immediate possession. No difficulty arose on either side in the agreement;and she waited only for the disposal of her effects at Norland,and to determine her future household, before she set off for the west; and this,as she was exceedingly rapid in the performance of everything that interested her,was soon done.—The horses which were left her by her husband had been sold soon after his death,and an opportunity now offering of disposing of her carriage,she agreed to sell that likewise at the earnest advice of her eldest daughter.For the comfort of her children, had she consulted only her own wishes, she would have kept it;but the discretion of Elinor prevailed._Her_ wisdom too limited the number of their servants to three; two maids and a man,with whom they were speedily provided from amongst those who had formed their establishment at Norland.
The man and one of the maids were sent off immediately into Devonshire,to prepare the house for their mistress’s arrival;for as Lady Middleton was entirely unknown to Mrs. Dashwood,she preferred going directly to the cottage to being a visitor at Barton Park;and she relied so undoubtingly on Sir John’s description of the house,as to feel no curiosity to examine it herself till she entered it as her own.Her eagerness to be gone from Norland was preserved from diminution by the evident satisfaction of her daughter-in-law in the prospect of her removal;a satisfaction which was but feebly attempted to be concealed under a cold invitation to her to defer her departure.Now was the time when her son-in-law’s promise to his father might with particular propriety be fulfilled.Since he had neglected to do it on first coming to the estate,their quitting his house might be looked on as the most suitable period for its accomplishment.But Mrs. Dashwood began shortly to give over every hope of the kind, and to be convinced,from the general drift of his discourse,that his assistance extended no farther than their maintenance for six months at Norland.He so frequently talked of the increasing expenses of housekeeping,and of the perpetual demands upon his purse,which a man of any consequence in the world was beyond calculation exposed to,that he seemed rather to stand in need of more money himself than to have any design of giving money away.
In a very few weeks from the day which brought Sir John Middleton’s first letter to Norland,every thing was so far settled in their future abode as to enable Mrs.Dashwood and her daughters to begin their journey.
Many were the tears shed by them in their last adieus to a place so much beloved. “Dear, dear Norland!” said Marianne, as she wandered alone before the house, on the last evening of their being there; “when shall I cease to regret you!—when learn to feel a home elsewhere!—Oh!happy house, could you know what I suffer in now viewing you from this spot,from whence perhaps I may view you no more!—And you, ye well-known trees!—but you will continue the same.—No leaf will decay because we are removed,nor any branch become motionless although we can observe you no longer!—No; you will continue the same; unconscious of the pleasure or the regret you occasion,and insensible of any change in those who walk under your shade!—But who will remain to enjoy you?”
CHAPTER VI.
The first part of their journey was performed in too melancholy a disposition to be otherwise than tedious and unpleasant.But as they drew towards the end of it,their interest in the appearance of a country which they were to inhabit overcame their dejection,and a view of Barton Valley as they entered it gave them cheerfulness.It was a pleasant fertile spot, well wooded, and rich in pasture.After winding along it for more than a mile, they reached their own house.A small green court was the whole of its demesne in front;and a neat wicket gate admitted them into it.
As a house, Barton Cottage, though small, was comfortable and compact;but as a cottage it was defective, for the building was regular, the roof was tiled,the window shutters were not painted green, nor were the walls covered with honeysuckles.A narrow passage led directly through the house into the garden behind.On each side of the entrance was a sitting room, about sixteen feet square;and beyond them were the offices and the stairs.Four bed-rooms and two garrets formed the rest of the house.It had not been built many years and was in good repair. In comparison of Norland, it was poor and small indeed!—but the tears which recollection called forth as they entered the house were soon dried away.They were cheered by the joy of the servants on their arrival,and each for the sake of the others resolved to appear happy. It was very early in September;the season was fine, and from first seeing the place under the advantage of good weather,they received an impression in its favour which was of material service in recommending it to their lasting approbation.
The situation of the house was good. High hills rose immediately behind,and at no great distance on each side; some of which were open downs,the others cultivated and woody. The village of Barton was chiefly on one of these hills,and formed a pleasant view from the cottage windows. The prospect in front was more extensive;it commanded the whole of the valley, and reached into the country beyond.The hills which surrounded the cottage terminated the valley in that direction; under another name,and in another course, it branched out again between two of the steepest of them.
With the size and furniture of the house Mrs. Dashwood was upon the whole well satisfied;for though her former style of life rendered many additions to the latter indispensable,yet to add and improve was a delight to her;and she had at this time ready money enough to supply all that was wanted of greater elegance to the apartments.“As for the house itself, to be sure,” said she, “it is too small for our family,but we will make ourselves tolerably comfortable for the present,as it is too late in the year for improvements. Perhaps in the spring, if I have plenty of money,as I dare say I shall, we may think about building.These parlors are both too small for such parties of our friends as I hope to see often collected here;and I have some thoughts of throwing the passage into one of them with perhaps a part of the other,and so leave the remainder of that other for an entrance; this,with a new drawing room which may be easily added, and a bed-chamber and garret above,will make it a very snug little cottage. I could wish the stairs were handsome.But one must not expect every thing; though I suppose it would be no difficult matter to widen them.I shall see how much I am before-hand with the world in the spring,and we will plan our improvements accordingly.”
In the mean time, till all these alterations could be made from the savings of an income of five hundred a-year by a woman who never saved in her life,they were wise enough to be contented with the house as it was;and each of them was busy in arranging their particular concerns, and endeavoring,by placing around them books and other possessions, to form themselves a home.Marianne’s pianoforte was unpacked and properly disposed of;and Elinor’s drawings were affixed to the walls of their sitting room.
In such employments as these they were interrupted soon after breakfast the next day by the entrance of their landlord,who called to welcome them to Barton, and to offer them every accommodation from his own house and garden in which theirs might at present be deficient.Sir John Middleton was a good looking man about forty. He had formerly visited at Stanhill,but it was too long for his young cousins to remember him.His countenance was thoroughly good-humoured;and his manners were as friendly as the style of his letter.Their arrival seemed to afford him real satisfaction,and their comfort to be an object of real solicitude to him.He said much of his earnest desire of their living in the most sociable terms with his family,and pressed them so cordially to dine at Barton Park every day till they were better settled at home,that, though his entreaties were carried to a point of perseverance beyond civility,they could not give offence. His kindness was not confined to words;for within an hour after he left them, a large basket full of garden stuff and fruit arrived from the park,which was followed before the end of the day by a present of game. He insisted, moreover,on conveying all their letters to and from the post for them,and would not be denied the satisfaction of sending them his newspaper every day.
Lady Middleton had sent a very civil message by him, denoting her intention of waiting on Mrs.Dashwood as soon as she could be assured that her visit would be no inconvenience;and as this message was answered by an invitation equally polite,her ladyship was introduced to them the next day.
They were, of course, very anxious to see a person on whom so much of their comfort at Barton must depend;and the elegance of her appearance was favourable to their wishes.Lady Middleton was not more than six or seven and twenty; her face was handsome,her figure tall and striking, and her address graceful.Her manners had all the elegance which her husband’s wanted.But they would have been improved by some share of his frankness and warmth;and her visit was long enough to detract something from their first admiration, by showing that,though perfectly well-bred, she was reserved, cold,and had nothing to say for herself beyond the most common-place inquiry or remark.
Conversation however was not wanted, for Sir John was very chatty,and Lady Middleton had taken the wise precaution of bringing with her their eldest child,a fine little boy about six years old, by which means there was one subject always to be recurred to by the ladies in case of extremity,for they had to enquire his name and age, admire his beauty,and ask him questions which his mother answered for him,while he hung about her and held down his head, to the great surprise of her ladyship,who wondered at his being so shy before company, as he could make noise enough at home.On every formal visit a child ought to be of the party, by way of provision for discourse.In the present case it took up ten minutes to determine whether the boy were most like his father or mother,and in what particular he resembled either, for of course every body differed,and every body was astonished at the opinion of the others.
An opportunity was soon to be given to the Dashwoods of debating on the rest of the children,as Sir John would not leave the house without securing their promise of dining at the park the next day.
CHAPTER VII.
Barton Park was about half a mile from the cottage.The ladies had passed near it in their way along the valley,but it was screened from their view at home by the projection of a hill.The house was large and handsome; and the Middletons lived in a style of equal hospitality and elegance.The former was for Sir John’s gratification, the latter for that of his lady.They were scarcely ever without some friends staying with them in the house,and they kept more company of every kind than any other family in the neighbourhood.It was necessary to the happiness of both; for however dissimilar in temper and outward behaviour,they strongly resembled each other in that total want of talent and taste which confined their employments,unconnected with such as society produced, within a very narrow compass. Sir John was a sportsman,Lady Middleton a mother. He hunted and shot, and she humoured her children;and these were their only resources. Lady Middleton had the advantage of being able to spoil her children all the year round,while Sir John’s independent employments were in existence only half the time.Continual engagements at home and abroad, however,supplied all the deficiencies of nature and education; supported the good spirits of Sir John,and gave exercise to the good breeding of his wife.
Lady Middleton piqued herself upon the elegance of her table, and of all her domestic arrangements;and from this kind of vanity was her greatest enjoyment in any of their parties.But Sir John’s satisfaction in society was much more real;he delighted in collecting about him more young people than his house would hold,and the noisier they were the better was he pleased.He was a blessing to all the juvenile part of the neighbourhood,for in summer he was for ever forming parties to eat cold ham and chicken out of doors,and in winter his private balls were numerous enough for any young lady who was not suffering under the unsatiable appetite of fifteen.
The arrival of a new family in the country was always a matter of joy to him,and in every point of view he was charmed with the inhabitants he had now procured for his cottage at Barton.The Miss Dashwoods were young, pretty, and unaffected. It was enough to secure his good opinion;for to be unaffected was all that a pretty girl could want to make her mind as captivating as her person.The friendliness of his disposition made him happy in accommodating those,whose situation might be considered, in comparison with the past, as unfortunate.In showing kindness to his cousins therefore he had the real satisfaction of a good heart;and in settling a family of females only in his cottage,he had all the satisfaction of a sportsman; for a sportsman,though he esteems only those of his sex who are sportsmen likewise,is not often desirous of encouraging their taste by admitting them to a residence within his own manor.
Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters were met at the door of the house by Sir John,who welcomed them to Barton Park with unaffected sincerity;and as he attended them to the drawing room repeated to the young ladies the concern which the same subject had drawn from him the day before,at being unable to get any smart young men to meet them. They would see, he said,only one gentleman there besides himself; a particular friend who was staying at the park,but who was neither very young nor very gay.He hoped they would all excuse the smallness of the party,and could assure them it should never happen so again.He had been to several families that morning in hopes of procuring some addition to their number,but it was moonlight and every body was full of engagements.Luckily Lady Middleton’s mother had arrived at Barton within the last hour,and as she was a very cheerful agreeable woman,he hoped the young ladies would not find it so very dull as they might imagine. The young ladies,as well as their mother, were perfectly satisfied with having two entire strangers of the party, and wished for no more.
Mrs. Jennings, Lady Middleton’s mother, was a good-humoured, merry, fat, elderly woman,who talked a great deal, seemed very happy, and rather vulgar. She was full of jokes and laughter,and before dinner was over had said many witty things on the subject of lovers and husbands;hoped they had not left their hearts behind them in Sussex,and pretended to see them blush whether they did or not.Marianne was vexed at it for her sister’s sake,and turned her eyes towards Elinor to see how she bore these attacks,with an earnestness which gave Elinor far more pain than could arise from such common-place raillery as Mrs. Jennings’s.
Colonel Brandon, the friend of Sir John,seemed no more adapted by resemblance of manner to be his friend,than Lady Middleton was to be his wife, or Mrs. Jennings to be Lady Middleton’s mother.He was silent and grave. His appearance however was not unpleasing,in spite of his being in the opinion of Marianne and Margaret an absolute old bachelor,for he was on the wrong side of five and thirty; but though his face was not handsome,his countenance was sensible, and his address was particularly gentlemanlike.
There was nothing in any of the party which could recommend them as companions to the Dashwoods;but the cold insipidity of Lady Middleton was so particularly repulsive,that in comparison of it the gravity of Colonel Brandon,and even the boisterous mirth of Sir John and his mother-in-law was interesting.Lady Middleton seemed to be roused to enjoyment only by the entrance of her four noisy children after dinner,who pulled her about, tore her clothes,and put an end to every kind of discourse except what related to themselves.
In the evening, as Marianne was discovered to be musical, she was invited to play.The instrument was unlocked, every body prepared to be charmed, and Marianne, who sang very well,at their request went through the chief of the songs which Lady Middleton had brought into the family on her marriage,and which perhaps had lain ever since in the same position on the pianoforte,for her ladyship had celebrated that event by giving up music, although by her mother’s account,she had played extremely well, and by her own was very fond of it.