Grant?s
great hands, she called out, in high good-humour, ?Sotherton! Yes,
that is a place, indeed, and we had a charming day thereWilliam,
you are quite out of luck; but the next time you come, I hope dear
MrRushworth will be at home, and I am sure I can answer
for your being kindly received by bothYour cousins are not of a sort
to forget their relations, and MrRushworth is a most amiable man
They are at Brighton now, you know; in one of the best houses there,
as MrRushworth?s fine fortune gives them a right to beI do not
exactly know the distance, but when you get back to Portsmouth, if it
is not very far off, you ought to go over and pay your respects to
them; and I could send a little parcel by you that I want to get conveyed
to your cousins
?I should be very happy, aunt; but Brighton is almost by Beachey
Head; and if I could get so far, I could not expect to be welcome in
such a smart place as that?poor scrubby midshipman as I amNorris was beginning an eager assurance of the affability he
might depend on, when she was stopped by Sir Thomas?s saying
with authority, ?I do not advise your going to Brighton, William, as
I trust you may soon have more convenient opportunities of meeting;
but my daughters would be happy to see their cousins anywhere;
and you will find MrRushworth most sincerely disposed to
regard all the connexions of our family as his own
?I would rather find him private secretary to the First Lord than
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anything else,? was William?s only answer, in an undervoice, not
meant to reach buy chanel purse far, and the subject dropped
As yet Sir Thomas had seen nothing to remark in MrCrawford?s
behaviour; but when the whist-table broke up at the end of the
second rubber, and leaving DrNorris to dispute
over their last play, he became a looker-on at the other, he found his
niece the object of attentions, or rather of professions, of a somewhat
pointed character
Henry Crawford was in the first glow of another scheme about
Thornton Lacey; and not being able to catch Edmund?s ear, was
detailing it to his fair neighbour with a look of considerable earnestness
His scheme was to rent the house himself the following winter,
that he might have a home of his own in that neighbourhood;
and it was not merely for the use of it in the hunting-season (as he
was then telling her), though that consideration had certainly some
weight, feeling as he did that, in spite of all DrGrant?s very great
kindness, it was impossible for him and his horses to be accommodated
where they now were without material inconvenience; but his
attachment to that neighbourhood did not depend upon one amusement
or one season of the year: he had set his heart upon having a
something there that he could come to at any time, a little homestall
at his command, where all the holidays of his year might be spent,
and he might find himself continuing, improving, and perfecting
that friendship and intimacy with the Mansfield Park family which
was increasing in value to him every daySir Thomas heard and was
not offendedThere was no want of respect in the young man?s
address; black gucci bags and Fanny?s reception of it was so proper and modest, so
calm and uninviting, that he had nothing to censure in herShe said
little, assented only here and there, and betrayed no inclination either
of appropriating any part of the compliment to herself, or of
strengthening his views in favour of NorthamptonshireFinding by
whom he was observed, Henry Crawford addressed himself on the
same subject to Sir Thomas, in a more everyday tone, but still with
feeling
?I want to be your neighbour, Sir Thomas, as you have, perhaps,
heard me telling Miss PriceMay I hope for your acquiescence, and
for your not influencing your son against such a tenant??
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Sir Thomas, politely bowing, replied, ?It is the only way, sir, in
which I could not wish you established as a permanent neighbour;
but I hope, and believe, that Edmund will occupy his own house at
Thornton LaceyEdmund, am I saying too much??
Edmund, on this appeal, had first to hear what was going on; but,
on understanding the question, was at no loss for an answer
?Certainly, sir, I have no idea but of residenceBut, Crawford,
though I refuse you as a tenant, come to me as a friendConsider
the house as half your own every winter, and we will add to the
stables on your own improved plan, and with all the improvements
of your improved plan that may occur to you this spring
?We shall be the losers,? continued Sir Thomas?His going, though
only eight miles, will be an unwelcome contraction of our family
circle; but I should have been deeply mortified if any son of chanel wallet mine
could reconcile himself to doing lessIt is perfectly natural that you
should not have thought much on the subject, MrBut a
parish has wants and claims which can be known only by a clergyman
constantly resident, and which no proxy can be capable of
satisfying to the same extentEdmund might, in the common phrase,
do the duty of Thornton, that is, he might read prayers and preach,
without giving up Mansfield Park: he might ride over every Sunday,
to a house nominally inhabited, and go through divine service; he
might be the clergyman of Thornton Lacey every seventh day, for
three or four hours, if that would content himHe
knows that human nature needs more lessons than a weekly sermon
can convey; and that if he does not live among his parishioners, and
prove himself, by constant attention, their well-wisher and friend,
he does very little either for their good or his ownCrawford bowed his acquiescence
?I repeat again,? added Sir Thomas, ?that Thornton Lacey is the
only house in the neighbourhood in which I should not be happy to
wait on MrCrawford bowed his thanks
?Sir Thomas,? said Edmund, ?undoubtedly understands the duty of
a parish priestWe must hope his son may prove that he knows it too
Whatever effect Sir Thomas?s little harangue might really produce
on MrCrawford, it raised some awkward sensations in two of the
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others, two of his most attentive listeners?Miss Crawford and
FannyOne of whom, having never before understood that Thornton
was so soon and so completely to be his home, was pondering chanel pearl necklace with
downcast eyes on what it would be not to see Edmund every day;
and the other, startled from the agreeable fancies she had been previously
indulging on the strength of her brother?s description, no
longer able, in the picture she had been forming of a future Thornton,
to shut out the church, sink the clergyman, and see only the respectable,
elegant, modernised, and occasional residence of a man
of independent fortune, was considering Sir Thomas, with decided
ill-will, as the destroyer of all this, and suffering the more from that
involuntary forbearance which his character and manner commanded,
and from not daring to relieve herself by a single attempt
at throwing ridicule on his cause
All the agreeable of her speculation was over for that hourIt was
time to have done with cards, if sermons prevailed; and she was glad
to find it necessary to come to a conclusion, and be able to refresh
her spirits by a change of place and neighbour
The chief of the party were now collected irregularly round the
fire, and waiting the final break-upWilliam and Fanny were the
most detachedThey remained together at the otherwise deserted
card-table, talking very comfortably, and not thinking of the rest,
till some of the rest began to think of themHenry Crawford?s chair
was the first to be given a direction towards them, and he sat silently
observing them for a few minutes; himself, in the meanwhile, observed
by Sir Thomas, who was standing in chat with Dr
?This is the assembly night,? said William?If I were at Portsmouth
I should be at it, dolce and gabbana handbag perhap