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Emma
by Jane Austen
VOLUME II
CHAPTER XVII
When the ladies returned to the drawing-room after dinner, Emma
found it hardly possible to prevent their making two distinct parties;--
with so much perseverance in judging and behaving ill did Mrs. Elton
engross Jane Fairfax and slight herself. She and Mrs. Weston were
obliged to be almost always either talking together or silent together.
Mrs. Elton left them no choice. If Jane repressed her for a little
time, she soon began again; and though much that passed between
them was in a half-whisper, especially on Mrs. Elton's side, there
was no avoiding a knowledge of their principal subjects: The post-office--catching
cold--fetching letters--and friendship, were long under discussion;
and to them succeeded one, which must be at least equally unpleasant
to Jane--inquiries whether she had yet heard of any situation likely
to suit her, and professions of Mrs. Elton's meditated activity.
"Here is April come!" said she, "I get quite anxious
about you. June will soon be here."
"But I have never fixed on June or any other month--merely
looked forward to the summer in general."
"But have you really heard of nothing?"
"I have not even made any inquiry; I do not wish to make any
yet."
"Oh! my dear, we cannot begin too early; you are not aware
of the difficulty of procuring exactly the desirable thing."
"I not aware!" said Jane, shaking her head; "dear
Mrs. Elton, who can have thought of it as I have done?"
"But you have not seen so much of the world as I have. You
do not know how many candidates there always are for the first situations.
I saw a vast deal of that in the neighbourhood round Maple Grove.
A cousin of Mr. Suckling, Mrs. Bragge, had such an infinity of applications;
every body was anxious to be in her family, for she moves in the
first circle. Wax-candles in the schoolroom! You may imagine how
desirable! Of all houses in the kingdom Mrs. Bragge's is the one
I would most wish to see you in."
"Colonel and Mrs. Campbell are to be in town again by midsummer,"
said Jane. "I must spend some time with them; I am sure they
will want it;--afterwards I may probably be glad to dispose of myself.
But I would not wish you to take the trouble of making any inquiries
at present."
"Trouble! aye, I know your scruples. You are afraid of giving
me trouble; but I assure you, my dear Jane, the Campbells can hardly
be more interested about you than I am. I shall write to Mrs. Partridge
in a day or two, and shall give her a strict charge to be on the
look-out for any thing eligible."
"Thank you, but I would rather you did not mention the subject
to her; till the time draws nearer, I do not wish to be giving any
body trouble."
"But, my dear child, the time is drawing near; here is April,
and June, or say even July, is very near, with such business to
accomplish before us. Your inexperience really amuses me! A situation
such as you deserve, and your friends would require for you, is
no everyday occurrence, is not obtained at a moment's notice; indeed,
indeed, we must begin inquiring directly."
"Excuse me, ma'am, but this is by no means my intention; I
make no inquiry myself, and should be sorry to have any made by
my friends. When I am quite determined as to the time, I am not
at all afraid of being long unemployed. There are places in town,
offices, where inquiry would soon produce something--Offices for
the sale-- not quite of human flesh--but of human intellect."
"Oh! my dear, human flesh! You quite shock me; if you mean
a fling at the slave-trade, I assure you Mr. Suckling was always
rather a friend to the abolition."
"I did not mean, I was not thinking of the slave-trade,"
replied Jane; "governess-trade, I assure you, was all that
I had in view; widely different certainly as to the guilt of those
who carry it on; but as to the greater misery of the victims, I
do not know where it lies. But I only mean to say that there are
advertising offices, and that by applying to them I should have
no doubt of very soon meeting with something that would do."
"Something that would do!" repeated Mrs. Elton. "Aye,
that may suit your humble ideas of yourself;--I know what a modest
creature you are; but it will not satisfy your friends to have you
taking up with any thing that may offer, any inferior, commonplace
situation, in a family not moving in a certain circle, or able to
command the elegancies of life."
"You are very obliging; but as to all that, I am very indifferent;
it would be no object to me to be with the rich; my mortifications,
I think, would only be the greater; I should suffer more from comparison.
A gentleman's family is all that I should condition for."
"I know you, I know you; you would take up with any thing;
but I shall be a little more nice, and I am sure the good Campbells
will be quite on my side; with your superior talents, you have a
right to move in the first circle. Your musical knowledge alone
would entitle you to name your own terms, have as many rooms as
you like, and mix in the family as much as you chose;--that is--I
do not know-- if you knew the harp, you might do all that, I am
very sure; but you sing as well as play;--yes, I really believe
you might, even without the harp, stipulate for what you chose;--and
you must and shall be delightfully, honourably and comfortably settled
before the Campbells or I have any rest."
"You may well class the delight, the honour, and the comfort
of such a situation together," said Jane, "they are pretty
sure to be equal; however, I am very serious in not wishing any
thing to be attempted at present for me. I am exceedingly obliged
to you, Mrs. Elton, I am obliged to any body who feels for me, but
I am quite serious in wishing nothing to be done till the summer.
For two or three months longer I shall remain where I am, and as
I am."
"And I am quite serious too, I assure you," replied Mrs.
Elton gaily,"in resolving to be always on the watch, and employing
my friends to watch also, that nothing really unexceptionable may
pass us."
In this style she ran on; never thoroughly stopped by any thing
till Mr. Woodhouse came into the room; her vanity had then a change
of object, and Emma heard her saying in the same half-whisper to
Jane,
"Here comes this dear old beau of mine, I protest!--Only think
of his gallantry in coming away before the other men!--what a dear
creature he is;--I assure you I like him excessively. I admire all
that quaint, old-fashioned politeness; it is much more to my taste
than modern ease; modern ease often disgusts me. But this good old
Mr. Woodhouse, I wish you had heard his gallant speeches to me at
dinner. Oh! I assure you I began to think my caro sposo would be
absolutely jealous. I fancy I am rather a favourite; he took notice
of my gown. How do you like it?--Selina's choice--handsome, I think,
but I do not know whether it is not over-trimmed; I have the greatest
dislike to the idea of being over-trimmed--quite a horror of finery.
I must put on a few ornaments now, because it is expected of me.
A bride, you know, must appear like a bride, but my natural taste
is all for simplicity; a simple style of dress is so infinitely
preferable to finery. But I am quite in the minority, I believe;
few people seem to value simplicity of dress,--show and finery are
every thing. I have some notion of putting such a trimming as this
to my white and silver poplin. Do you think it will look well?"
The whole party were but just reassembled in the drawing-room when
Mr. Weston made his appearance among them. He had returned to a
late dinner, and walked to Hartfield as soon as it was over. He
had been too much expected by the best judges, for surprize-- but
there was great joy. Mr. Woodhouse was almost as glad to see him
now, as he would have been sorry to see him before. John Knightley
only was in mute astonishment.--That a man who might have spent
his evening quietly at home after a day of business in London, should
set off again, and walk half a mile to another man's house, for
the sake of being in mixed company till bed-time, of finishing his
day in the efforts of civility and the noise of numbers, was a circumstance
to strike him deeply. A man who had been in motion since eight o'clock
in the morning, and might now have been still, who had been long
talking, and might have been silent, who had been in more than one
crowd, and might have been alone!--Such a man, to quit the tranquillity
and independence of his own fireside, and on the evening of a cold
sleety April day rush out again into the world!--Could he by a touch
of his finger have instantly taken back his wife, there would have
been a motive; but his coming would probably prolong rather than
break up the party. John Knightley looked at him with amazement,
then shrugged his shoulders, and said, "I could not have believed
it even of him."
Mr. Weston meanwhile, perfectly unsuspicious of the indignation
he was exciting, happy and cheerful as usual, and with all the right
of being principal talker, which a day spent anywhere from home
confers, was making himself agreeable among the rest; and having
satisfied the inquiries of his wife as to his dinner, convincing
her that none of all her careful directions to the servants had
been forgotten, and spread abroad what public news he had heard,
was proceeding to a family communication, which, though principally
addressed to Mrs. Weston, he had not the smallest doubt of being
highly interesting to every body in the room. He gave her a letter,
it was from Frank, and to herself; he had met with it in his way,
and had taken the liberty of opening it.
"Read it, read it," said he, "it will give you pleasure;
only a few lines--will not take you long; read it to Emma."
The two ladies looked over it together; and he sat smiling and talking
to them the whole time, in a voice a little subdued, but very audible
to every body.
"Well, he is coming, you see; good news, I think. Well, what
do you say to it?--I always told you he would be here again soon,
did not I?--Anne, my dear, did not I always tell you so, and you
would not believe me?--In town next week, you see--at the latest,
I dare say; for she is as impatient as the black gentleman when
any thing is to be done; most likely they will be there to-morrow
or Saturday. As to her illness, all nothing of course. But it is
an excellent thing to have Frank among us again, so near as town.
They will stay a good while when they do come, and he will be half
his time with us. This is precisely what I wanted. Well, pretty
good news, is not it? Have you finished it? Has Emma read it all?
Put it up, put it up; we will have a good talk about it some other
time, but it will not do now. I shall only just mention the circumstance
to the others in a common way."
Mrs. Weston was most comfortably pleased on the occasion. Her looks
and words had nothing to restrain them. She was happy, she knew
she was happy, and knew she ought to be happy. Her congratulations
were warm and open; but Emma could not speak so fluently. She was
a little occupied in weighing her own feelings, and trying to understand
the degree of her agitation, which she rather thought was considerable.
Mr. Weston, however, too eager to be very observant, too communicative
to want others to talk, was very well satisfied with what she did
say, and soon moved away to make the rest of his friends happy by
a partial communication of what the whole room must have overheard
already.
It was well that he took every body's joy for granted, or he might
not have thought either Mr. Woodhouse or Mr. Knightley particularly
delighted. They were the first entitled, after Mrs. Weston and Emma,
to be made happy;--from them he would have proceeded to Miss Fairfax,
but she was so deep in conversation with John Knightley, that it
would have been too positive an interruption; and finding himself
close to Mrs. Elton, and her attention disengaged, he necessarily
began on the subject with her.
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