The hope of an opportunity, which Sir Thomas had...
The hope of an opportunity, which
Sir Thomas had then given, was not given to be thought of no more
He remained steadily inclined to gratify so amiable a feeling; to
gratify anybody else who might wish to see Fanny dance, and to
give pleasure to the young people in general; and having thought
the matter over, and taken his resolution in quiet independence, the
result of it appeared the next morning at breakfast, when, after recalling
and commending what his nephew had said, he added, “I do
not like, William, that you should leave Northamptonshire without
this indulgenceIt would give me pleasure to see you both dance
You spoke of the balls at NorthamptonYour cousins have occasionally
attended them; but they would not altogether suit us now
The fatigue would be too much for your auntI believe we must not
think of a Northampton ballA dance at home would be more eligible;
and if—”
“Ah, my dear Sir Thomas!” interrupted MrsNorris, “I knew what
was comingI knew what you were going to sayIf dear Julia were at
home, or dearest MrsRushworth at Sotherton, to afford a reason,
an occasion for such a thing, you would be tempted to give the
young people a dance at MansfieldIf they were
at home to grace the ball, a ball you would have this very Christmas
Thank your uncle, William, thank your uncle!”
“My daughters,” replied Sir Thomas, gravely interposing, “have their
pleasures at Brighton, and I hope are very happy; but the dance which
I think of giving at Mansfield will be for their cousinsCould we be
all assembled, our satisfaction would undoubtedly be more complete,
but the absence of some is not to debar the others of amusementNorris had not gucci indy bag another word to sayShe saw decision in his
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looks, and her surprise and vexation required some minutes’ silence
to be settled into composureA ball at such a time! His daughters
absent and herself not consulted! There was comfort, however, soon
at handShe must be the doer of everything: Lady Bertram would
of course be spared all thought and exertion, and it would all fall
upon herShe should have to do the honours of the evening; and
this reflection quickly restored so much of her good-humour as enabled
her to join in with the others, before their happiness and thanks
were all expressed
Edmund, William, and Fanny did, in their different ways, look
and speak as much grateful pleasure in the promised ball as Sir Thomas
could desireEdmund’s feelings were for the other twoHis
father had never conferred a favour or shewn a kindness more to his
satisfaction
Lady Bertram was perfectly quiescent and contented, and had no
objections to makeSir Thomas engaged for its giving her very little
trouble; and she assured him “that she was not at all afraid of the
trouble; indeed, she could not imagine there would be anyNorris was ready with her suggestions as to the rooms he
would think fittest to be used, but found it all prearranged; and
when she would have conjectured and hinted about the day, it appeared
that the day was settled tooSir Thomas had been amusing
himself with shaping a very complete outline of the business; and as
soon as she would listen quietly, could read his list of the families to
be invited, from whom he calculated, with all necessary allowance
for the shortness of the notice, to collect young people enough to
form zucca spy fendi bag twelve or fourteen couple: and could detail the considerations
which had induced him to fix on the 22nd as the most eligible day
William was required to be at Portsmouth on the 24th; the 22nd
would therefore be the last day of his visit; but where the days were
so few it would be unwise to fix on any earlierNorris was
obliged to be satisfied with thinking just the same, and with having
been on the point of proposing the 22nd herself, as by far the best
day for the purpose
The ball was now a settled thing, and before the evening a proclaimed
thing to all whom it concernedInvitations were sent with
despatch, and many a young lady went to bed that night with her
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head full of happy cares as well as FannyTo her the cares were
sometimes almost beyond the happiness; for young and inexperienced,
with small means of choice and no confidence in her own
taste, the “how she should be dressed” was a point of painful solicitude;
and the almost solitary ornament in her possession, a very
pretty amber cross which William had brought her from Sicily, was
the greatest distress of all, for she had nothing but a bit of ribbon to
fasten it to; and though she had worn it in that manner once, would
it be allowable at such a time in the midst of all the rich ornaments
which she supposed all the other young ladies would appear in?
And yet not to wear it! William had wanted to buy her a gold chain
too, but the purchase had been beyond his means, and therefore
not to wear the cross might be mortifying himThese were anxious
considerations; enough to sober her spirits even under the prospect
of a ball given principally for her gratification
The balenciaga motorcycle handbags preparations meanwhile went on, and Lady Bertram continued
to sit on her sofa without any inconvenience from themShe
had some extra visits from the housekeeper, and her maid was rather
hurried in making up a new dress for her: Sir Thomas gave orders,
and MrsNorris ran about; but all this gave her no trouble, and as
she had foreseen, “there was, in fact, no trouble in the business
Edmund was at this time particularly full of cares: his mind being
deeply occupied in the consideration of two important events now
at hand, which were to fix his fate in life—ordination and matrimony—
events of such a serious character as to make the ball, which
would be very quickly followed by one of them, appear of less moment
in his eyes than in those of any other person in the houseOn
the 23rd he was going to a friend near Peterborough, in the same
situation as himself, and they were to receive ordination in the course
of the Christmas weekHalf his destiny would then be determined,
but the other half might not be so very smoothly wooedHis duties
would be established, but the wife who was to share, and animate,
and reward those duties, might yet be unattainableHe knew his
own mind, but he was not always perfectly assured of knowing Miss
Crawford’sThere were points on which they did not quite agree;
there were moments in which she did not seem propitious; and
though trusting altogether to her affection, so far as to be resolved—
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almost resolved—on bringing it to a decision within a very short
time, as soon as the variety of business before him were arranged,
and he knew what he had to offer her, he had many anxious feelings,
many doubting prada black bags hours as to the resultHis conviction of her
regard for him was sometimes very strong; he could look back on a
long course of encouragement, and she was as perfect in disinterested
attachment as in everything elseBut at other times doubt and
alarm intermingled with his hopes; and when he thought of her
acknowledged disinclination for privacy and retirement, her decided
preference of a London life, what could he expect but a determined
rejection? unless it were an acceptance even more to be deprecated,
demanding such sacrifices of situation and employment on his side
as conscience must forbid
The issue of all depended on one questionDid she love him well
enough to forego what had used to be essential points? Did she love
him well enough to make them no longer essential? And this question,
which he was continually repeating to himself, though oftenest
answered with a “Yes,” had sometimes its “No
Miss Crawford was soon to leave Mansfield, and on this circumstance
the “no” and the “yes” had been very recently in alternation
He had seen her eyes sparkle as she spoke of the dear friend’s letter,
which claimed a long visit from her in London, and of the kindness
of Henry, in engaging to remain where he was till January, that he
might convey her thither; he had heard her speak of the pleasure of
such a journey with an animation which had “no” in every tone
But this had occurred on the first day of its being settled, within the
first hour of the burst of such enjoyment, when nothing but the
friends she was to visit was before herHe had since heard her express
herself differently, with other feelings, more chequered feelings:
he had heard her tell saddle handbags Mr