Maria?s
guilt had induced Julia?s folly
Henry Crawford, ruined by early independence and bad domestic
example, indulged in the freaks of a cold-blooded vanity a little
too longOnce it had, by an opening undesigned and unmerited,
led him into the way of happinessCould he have been satisfied
with the conquest of one amiable woman?s affections, could he have
found sufficient exultation in overcoming the reluctance, in working
himself into the esteem and tenderness of Fanny Price, there
would have been every probability of success and felicity for him
His affection had already done somethingHer influence over him
had already given him some influence over herWould he have deserved
more, there can be no doubt that more would have been
obtained, especially when that marriage had taken place, which
would have given him the assistance of her conscience in subduing
her first inclination, and brought them very often togetherWould
he have persevered, and uprightly, Fanny must have been his reward,
and a reward very voluntarily bestowed, within a reasonable
period from Edmund?s marrying Mary
Had he done as he intended, and as he knew he ought, by going
down to Everingham after his return from Portsmouth, he might
have been deciding his own happy destinyBut he was pressed to
stay for MrsFraser?s party; his staying was made of flattering consequence,
and he was to meet MrsCuriosity and
409
Jane Austen
vanity were both engaged, and the temptation of immediate pleasure
was too strong for a mind unused to make any sacrifice to
right: he resolved to defer his Norfolk journey, resolved that writing
should answer the purpose of it, or that its purpose was unimportant,
and staidRushworth, was received by her with a
coldness which ought to have been repulsive, and have established
apparent indifference between them for ever; but he was mortified,
he could not bear to be thrown off by the woman whose smiles had
been so wholly at his command: he must exert himself to subdue so
proud a display of resentment; it was anger on Fanny?s account; he
must get the better of it, and make MrsRushworth Maria Bertram
again in her treatment http://www.irluxury.com/scategory_21_Tiffany-Jewelry.html" target="_blank of himself
In this spirit he began the attack, and by animated perseverance
had soon re-established the sort of familiar intercourse, of gallantry,
of flirtation, which bounded his views; but in triumphing over the
discretion which, though beginning in anger, might have saved them
both, he had put himself in the power of feelings on her side more
strong than he had supposedShe loved him; there was no withdrawing
attentions avowedly dear to herHe was entangled by his
own vanity, with as little excuse of love as possible, and without the
smallest inconstancy of mind towards her cousinTo keep Fanny
and the Bertrams from a knowledge of what was passing became his
first objectSecrecy could not have been more desirable for Mrs
Rushworth?s credit than he felt it for his ownWhen he returned
from Richmond, he would have been glad to see MrsAll that followed was the result of her imprudence; and he
went off with her at last, because he could not help it, regretting
Fanny even at the moment, but regretting her infinitely more when
all the bustle of the intrigue was over, and a very few months had
taught him, by the force of contrast, to place a yet higher value on
the sweetness of her temper, the purity of her mind, and the excellence
of her principles
That punishment, the public punishment of disgrace, should in a
just measure attend his share of the offence is, we know, not one of
the barriers which society gives to virtueIn this world the penalty is
less equal than could be wished; but without presuming to look
forward to a juster appointment hereafter, we may fairly consider a
410
Mansfield Park
man of sense, like Henry Crawford, to be providing for himself no
small portion of vexation and regret: vexation that must rise sometimes
to self-reproach, and regret to wretchedness, in having so requited
hospitality, so injured family peace, so forfeited his best, most
estimable, and endeared acquaintance, and so lost the woman whom
he had rationally as well as passionately loved
After what had passed to wound and alienate the two families, the
continuance of the Bertrams and Grants in such close neighbourhood
would http://www.irluxury.com/categorys_91_Coco-Chanel-Tote_1.html" target="_blank have been most distressing; but the absence of the latter, for
some months purposely lengthened, ended very fortunately in the
necessity, or at least the practicability, of a permanent removal
Grant, through an interest on which he had almost ceased to form
hopes, succeeded to a stall in Westminster, which, as affording an
occasion for leaving Mansfield, an excuse for residence in London,
and an increase of income to answer the expenses of the change,
was highly acceptable to those who went and those who staidGrant, with a temper to love and be loved, must have gone
with some regret from the scenes and people she had been used to;
but the same happiness of disposition must in any place, and any
society, secure her a great deal to enjoy, and she had again a home to
offer Mary; and Mary had had enough of her own friends, enough
of vanity, ambition, love, and disappointment in the course of the
last half-year, to be in need of the true kindness of her sister?s heart,
and the rational tranquillity of her waysThey lived together; and
when DrGrant had brought on apoplexy and death, by three great
institutionary dinners in one week, they still lived together; for Mary,
though perfectly resolved against ever attaching herself to a younger
brother again, was long in finding among the dashing representatives,
or idle heir-apparents, who were at the command of her beauty, and
her 20,000, any one who could satisfy the better taste she had acquired
at Mansfield, whose character and manners could authorise a
hope of the domestic happiness she had there learned to estimate, or
put Edmund Bertram sufficiently out of her head
Edmund had greatly the advantage of her in this respectHe had
not to wait and wish with vacant affections for an object worthy to
succeed her in themScarcely had he done regretting Mary Crawford,
and observing to Fanny how impossible it was that he should ever
411
Jane Austen
meet with such another woman, before it began to strike him whether
a very different kind of woman might not do just as well, or a great
deal better: whether Fanny herself were not growing as dear, as important
to him in all her http://www.irluxury.com/scategory_21_Tiffany-Jewelry.html" target="_blank smiles and all her ways, as Mary Crawford
had ever been; and whether it might not be a possible, an hopeful
undertaking to persuade her that her warm and sisterly regard for
him would be foundation enough for wedded love
I purposely abstain from dates on this occasion, that every one
may be at liberty to fix their own, aware that the cure of unconquerable
passions, and the transfer of unchanging attachments, must
vary much as to time in different peopleI only entreat everybody
to believe that exactly at the time when it was quite natural that it
should be so, and not a week earlier, Edmund did cease to care
about Miss Crawford, and became as anxious to marry Fanny as
Fanny herself could desire
With such a regard for her, indeed, as his had long been, a regard
founded on the most endearing claims of innocence and helplessness,
and completed by every recommendation of growing worth,
what could be more natural than the change? Loving, guiding, protecting
her, as he had been doing ever since her being ten years old,
her mind in so great a degree formed by his care, and her comfort
depending on his kindness, an object to him of such close and peculiar
interest, dearer by all his own importance with her than any
one else at Mansfield, what was there now to add, but that he should
learn to prefer soft light eyes to sparkling dark onesAnd being
always with her, and always talking confidentially, and his feelings
exactly in that favourable state which a recent disappointment gives,
those soft light eyes could not be very long in obtaining the preeminence
Having once set out, and felt that he had done so on this road to
happiness, there was nothing on the side of prudence to stop him or
make his progress slow; no doubts of her deserving, no fears of opposition
of taste, no need of drawing new hopes of happiness from
dissimilarity of temperHer mind, disposition, opinions, and habits
wanted no half-concealment, no self-deception on the present,
no reliance on future improvementEven in the midst of his late
infatuation, he had acknowledged Fanny?s mental superiorityWhat
412
Mansfield Park
must be his sense of it now, http://www.irluxury.com/categorys_94_Chanel-Purse_1.html" target="_blank therefore? She was of course only too
good for him; but as nobody minds having what is too good for
them, he was very steadily earnest in the pursuit of the blessing, and
it was not possible that encouragement from her should be long
wantingTimid, anxious, doubting as she was, it was still impossible
that such tenderness as hers should not, at times, hold out the
strongest hope of success, though it remained for a later period to
tell him the whole delightful and astonishing truthHis happiness
in knowing himself to have been so long the beloved of such a heart,
must have been great enough to warrant any strength of language in
which he could clothe it to her or to himself; it must have been a
delightful happinessBut there was happiness elsewhere which no
description can reachLet no one presume to give the feelings of a
young woman on receiving the assurance of that affection of which
she has scarcely allowed herself to entertain a hope
Their own inclinations ascertained, there were no difficulties behind,
no drawback of poverty or parentIt was a match which Sir
Thomas?s wishes had even forestalledSick of ambitious and mercenary
connexions, prizing more and more the sterling good of principle
and temper, and chiefly anxious to bind by the strongest securities
all that remained to him of domestic felicity, he had pondered
with genuine satisfaction on the more than possibility of the two
young friends finding their natural consolation in each other for all
that had occurred of disappointment to either; and the joyful consent
which met Edmund?s application, the high sense of having
realised a great acquisition in the promise of Fanny for a daughter,
formed just such a contrast with his early opinion on the subject
when the poor little girl?s coming had been first agitated, as time is
for ever producing between the plans and decisions of mortals, for
their own instruction, and their neighbours? entertainment
Fanny was indeed the daughter that he wantedHis charitable
kindness had been rearing a prime comfort for himselfHis liberality
had a rich repayment, and the general goodness of his intentions
by her deserved http://www.irluxury.com/category_3_Chloe_1.html" target="_blank i