Do not let him injure his own cause by...
Do not let him injure his own cause by interference
Persuade him to let things take their courseIf by any officious
exertions of his, she is induced to leave Henry’s protection,
there will be much less chance of his marrying her than if she remain
with himI know how he is likely to be influencedLet Sir
Thomas trust to his honour and compassion, and it may all end
well; but if he get his daughter away, it will be destroying the chief
hold”
After repeating this, Edmund was so much affected that Fanny,
watching him with silent, but most tender concern, was almost sorry
that the subject had been entered on at allIt was long before he
could speak againAt last, “Now, Fanny,” said he, “I shall soon have
doneI have told you the substance of all that she saidAs soon as I
could speak, I replied that I had not supposed it possible, coming in
such a state of mind into that house as I had done, that anything
could occur to make me suffer more, but that she had been inflicting
deeper wounds in almost every sentenceThat though I had, in
the course of our acquaintance, been often sensible of some difference
in our opinions, on points, too, of some moment, it had not
entered my imagination to conceive the difference could be such as
she had now proved itThat the manner in which she treated the
dreadful crime committed by her brother and my sister (with whom
lay the greater seduction I pretended not to say), but the manner replica miu miu bags in
which she spoke of the crime itself, giving it every reproach but the
right; considering its ill consequences only as they were to be braved
or overborne by a defiance of decency and impudence in wrong;
and last of all, and above all, recommending to us a compliance, a
compromise, an acquiescence in the continuance of the sin, on the
chance of a marriage which, thinking as I now thought of her brother,
should rather be prevented than sought; all this together most grievously
convinced me that I had never understood her before, and
401
Jane Austen
that, as far as related to mind, it had been the creature of my own
imagination, not Miss Crawford, that I had been too apt to dwell
on for many months pastThat, perhaps, it was best for me; I had
less to regret in sacrificing a friendship, feelings, hopes which must,
at any rate, have been torn from me nowAnd yet, that I must and
would confess that, could I have restored her to what she had appeared
to me before, I would infinitely prefer any increase of the
pain of parting, for the sake of carrying with me the right of tenderness
and esteemThis is what I said, the purport of it; but, as you
may imagine, not spoken so collectedly or methodically as I have
repeated it to youShe was astonished, exceedingly astonished—
more than astonishedI saw her change countenanceShe turned
extremely redI imagined I saw a mixture of many feelings: a great,
though short struggle; half a wish louis vuitton metallic bags of yielding to truths, half a sense
of shame, but habit, habit carried itShe would have laughed if she
couldIt was a sort of laugh, as she answered, ‘A pretty good lecture,
upon my wordWas it part of your last sermon? At this rate you will
soon reform everybody at Mansfield and Thornton Lacey; and when
I hear of you next, it may be as a celebrated preacher in some great
society of Methodists, or as a missionary into foreign parts She
tried to speak carelessly, but she was not so careless as she wanted to
appearI only said in reply, that from my heart I wished her well,
and earnestly hoped that she might soon learn to think more justly,
and not owe the most valuable knowledge we could any of us acquire,
the knowledge of ourselves and of our duty, to the lessons of
affliction, and immediately left the roomI had gone a few steps,
Fanny, when I heard the door open behind meBertram,’ said she, with a smile; but it was
a smile ill-suited to the conversation that had passed, a saucy playful
smile, seeming to invite in order to subdue me; at least it appeared
so to meI resisted; it was the impulse of the moment to resist, and
still walked onI have since, sometimes, for a moment, regretted
that I did not go back, but I know I was right, and such has been the
end of our acquaintanceAnd what an acquaintance has it been!
How have I been deceived! Equally in brother and sister deceived! I
thank you for your patience, FannyThis shop prada handbags has been the greatest relief,
and now we will have done
402
Mansfield Park
And such was Fanny’s dependence on his words, that for five minutes
she thought they had doneThen, however, it all came on again,
or something very like it, and nothing less than Lady Bertram’s rousing
thoroughly up could really close such a conversationTill that
happened, they continued to talk of Miss Crawford alone, and how
she had attached him, and how delightful nature had made her, and
how excellent she would have been, had she fallen into good hands
earlierFanny, now at liberty to speak openly, felt more than justified
in adding to his knowledge of her real character, by some hint
of what share his brother’s state of health might be supposed to have
in her wish for a complete reconciliationThis was not an agreeable
intimationNature resisted it for a whileIt would have been a vast
deal pleasanter to have had her more disinterested in her attachment;
but his vanity was not of a strength to fight long against
reasonHe submitted to believe that Tom’s illness had influenced
her, only reserving for himself this consoling thought, that considering
the many counteractions of opposing habits, she had certainly
been more attached to him than could have been expected, and for
his sake been more near doing rightFanny thought exactly the
same; and they were also quite agreed in their opinion of the lasting
effect, the indelible impression, chanel bags for cheep which such a disappointment must
make on his mindTime would undoubtedly abate somewhat of his
sufferings, but still it was a sort of thing which he never could get
entirely the better of; and as to his ever meeting with any other
woman who could—it was too impossible to be named but with
indignationFanny’s friendship was all that he had to cling to
403
Jane Austen
CHAPTER XLVIII
LET OTHER PENS dwell on guilt and miseryI quit such odious subjects
as soon as I can, impatient to restore everybody, not greatly in
fault themselves, to tolerable comfort, and to have done with all the
rest
My Fanny, indeed, at this very time, I have the satisfaction of
knowing, must have been happy in spite of everythingShe must
have been a happy creature in spite of all that she felt, or thought
she felt, for the distress of those around herShe had sources of
delight that must force their wayShe was returned to Mansfield
Park, she was useful, she was beloved; she was safe from Mr
Crawford; and when Sir Thomas came back she had every proof
that could be given in his then melancholy state of spirits, of his
perfect approbation and increased regard; and happy as all this must
make her, she would still have been happy without any of it, for
Edmund was no longer the dupe of Miss Crawford
It is true that Edmund was very far from happy himselfHe was
suffering from disappointment and regret, grieving over what was,
and wishing for what could never chanel coin purse