| 2:11p |
@@@@@She did not want exposure
to be added to
@@@@@She did not want exposure
to be added to desertionHenry Crawford gone, she could
even pity her sister
With a purer spirit did Fanny rejoice in the intelligenceShe heard
it at dinner, and felt it a blessingBy all the others it was mentioned
with regret; and his merits honoured with due gradation of feeling—
from the sincerity of Edmund’s too partial regard, to the unconcern
of his mother speaking entirely by roteNorris began
to look about her, and wonder that his falling in love with Julia had
come to nothing; and could almost fear that she had been remiss
herself in forwarding it; but with so many to care for, how was it
possible for even her activity to keep pace with her wishes?
Another day or two, and MrYates was gone likewiseIn his departure
Sir Thomas felt the chief interest: wanting to be alone with
his family, the presence of a stranger superior to MrYates must
have been irksome; but of him, trifling and confident, idle and expensive,
it was every way vexatiousIn himself he was wearisome,
but as the friend of Tom and the admirer of Julia he became offensive
Sir Thomas had been quite indifferent to MrCrawford’s going
or staying: but his good wishes for MrYates’s having a pleasant
journey, as he walked with him to the hall-door, were given with
genuine satisfactionYates had staid to see the destruction of
every theatrical preparation at Mansfield, the removal of everything
appertaining to the play: he left the house in all the soberness of its
general character; and Sir Thomas hoped, in seeing him out of it, to
be rid of the worst object connected with the scheme, and the last
that must be inevitably reminding him of its existenceNorris contrived to remove one article from his sight that might
have distressed himThe curtain, over which she had presided with
such talent and such success, went off with her to her cottage, where
she happened to be particularly in want of green baize
170
Mansfield Park
CHAPTER XXI
SIR THOMAS’S RETURN made a striking change in the ways of the
family, independent of Lovers’ VowsUnder his government,
Mansfield was an altered placeSome members of their society sent
away, and the spirits of many others saddened—it was all sameness
and gloom compared with the past—a sombre family party rarely
enlivenedThere was little intercourse with the ParsonageSir Thomas,
drawing back from intimacies in general, was particularly disinclined,
at this time, for any engagements but in one quarterThe
Rushworths were the only addition to his own domestic circle which
he could solicit
Edmund did not wonder that such should be his father’s feelings,
nor could he regret anything but the exclusion of the Grants“But
they,” he observed to Fanny, “have a claimThey seem to belong to
us; they seem to be part of ourse |