Nature resisted it for a whileIt would have been... Nature 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, 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;
louis vuitton miroir 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 beShe knew it was so, and was
sorry; but it was with a sorrow so founded on satisfaction, so tending
to ease, and so much in harmony with every dearest sensation,
that there are few who might not have been glad to exchange their
greatest gaiety for it
Sir Thomas, poor Sir Thomas, a parent, and conscious of errors in
his own conduct as a parent, was the longest to sufferHe felt that
he ought not to have allowed the marriage; that his daughter’s sentiments
had been sufficiently known to him to render him culpable
in authorising it; that in so doing he had sacrificed the right to the
expedient, and been governed by motives of selfishness and worldly
wisdomThese were reflections that required some time to soften;
404
Mansfield Park
but time will do almost everything; and though little comfort arose
on MrsRushworth’s side for the misery she had occasioned, comfort
was to be found greater than he had supposed in his other children
Julia’s match became a less desperate business than he had
considered it at firstShe was humble, and wishing to be forgiven;
and MrYates, desirous of being really received into the family,
cartier pasha watch was
disposed to look up to him and be guidedHe was not very solid;
but there was a hope of his becoming less trifling, of his being at
least tolerably domestic and quiet; and at any rate, there was comfort
in finding his estate rather more, and his debts much less, than
he had feared, and in being consulted and treated as the friend best
worth attending toThere was comfort also in Tom, who gradually
regained his health, without regaining the thoughtlessness and selfishness
of his previous habitsHe was the better for ever for his
illnessHe had suffered, and he had learned to think: two advantages
that he had never known before; and the self-reproach arising
from the deplorable event in Wimpole Street, to which he felt himself
accessory by all the dangerous intimacy of his unjustifiable theatre,
made an impression on his mind which, at the age of six-andtwenty,
with no want of sense or good companions, was durable in
its happy effectsHe became what he ought to be: useful to his
father, steady and quiet, and not living merely for himself
Here was comfort indeed! and quite as soon as Sir Thomas could
place dependence on such sources of good, Edmund was contributing
to his father’s ease by improvement in the only point in which
he had given him pain before—improvement in his spiritsAfter
wandering about and sitting under trees with Fanny all the summer
evenings, he had so well talked his mind into submission as to be
very tolerably cheerful again
These were the circumstances and the hopes which gradually
brought their alleviation to Sir Thomas, deadening his sense of what
was lost, and
women's santos 100 replica in part reconciling him to himself; though the anguish
arising from the conviction of his own errors in the education of his
daughters was never to be entirely done away
Too late he became aware how unfavourable to the character of
any young people must be the totally opposite treatment which Maria
and Julia had been always experiencing at home, where the exces405
Jane Austen
sive indulgence and flattery of their aunt had been continually contrasted
with his own severityHe saw how ill he had judged, in
expecting to counteract what was wrong in MrsNorris by its reverse
in himself; clearly saw that he had but increased the evil by
teaching them to repress their spirits in his presence so as to make
their real disposition unknown to him, and sending them for all
their indulgences to a person who had been able to attach them
only by the blindness of her affection, and the excess of her praise
Here had been grievous mismanagement; but, bad as it was, he
gradually grew to feel that it had not been the most direful mistake
in his plan of educationSomething must have been wanting within,
or time would have worn away much of its ill effectHe feared that
principle, active principle, had been wanting; that they had never
been properly taught to govern their inclinations and tempers by
that sense of duty which can alone sufficeThey had been instructed
theoretically in their religion, but never required to bring it into
daily practiceTo be distinguished for elegance and accomplishments,
the authorised object of their youth, could have had no useful influence
that way, no moral effect
chanel cambon handbag on the mindHe had meant them to
be good, but his cares had been directed to the understanding and
manners, not the disposition; and of the necessity of self-denial and
humility, he feared they had never heard from any lips that could
profit them
Bitterly did he deplore a deficiency which now he could scarcely
comprehend to have been possibleWretchedly did he feel, that
with all the cost and care of an anxious and expensive education, he
had brought up his daughters without their understanding their
first duties, or his being acquainted with their character and temper
The high spirit and strong passions of MrsRushworth, especially,
were made known to him only in their sad resultShe was not to be
prevailed on to leave MrShe hoped to marry him, and
they continued together till she was obliged to be convinced that such
hope was vain, and till the disappointment and wretchedness arising
from the conviction rendered her temper so bad, and her feelings for
him so like hatred, as to make them for a while each other’s punishment,
and then induce a voluntary separation
406
Mansfield Park
She had lived with him to be reproached as the ruin of all his
happiness in Fanny, and carried away no better consolation in leaving
him than that she had divided themWhat can exceed the misery
of such a mind in such a situation?
MrRushworth had no difficulty in procuring a divorce; and so
ended a marriage contracted under such circumstances as to make
any better end the effect of good luck not to be reckoned onShe
had despised him, and loved another; and he had been very much
aware that it was
chanel white purse s