Mansfield Park (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (13 page)

‘I collect,’ said Miss Crawford, ‘that Sotherton is an old place, and a place of some grandeur. In any particular style of building?’

‘The house was built in Elizabeth’s time, and is a large, regular brick building—heavy, but respectable-looking, and has many good rooms. It is ill placed. It stands in one of the lowest spots of the park; in that respect, unfavourable for improvement. But the woods are fine, and there is a stream, which, I daresay, might be made a good deal of. Mr. Rushworth is quite right, I think, in meaning to give it a modern dress, and I have no doubt that it will be all done extremely well.’

Miss Crawford listened with submission, and said to herself, ‘He is a well-bred man; he makes the best of it.’

‘I do not wish to influence Mr. Rushworth,’ he continued; ‘but had I a place to new-fashion, I should not put myself into the hands of an improver. I would rather have an inferior degree of beauty, of my own choice, and acquired progressively. I would rather abide by my own blunders than by his.’

‘
You
would know what you were about, of course—but that would not suit
me.
I have no eye or ingenuity for such matters, but as they are before me; and had I a place of my own in the country, I should be most thankful to any Mr. Repton who would undertake it, and give me as much beauty as he could for my money; and I should never look at it till it was complete.’

‘It would be delightful to
me
to see the progress of it all,’ said Fanny.

‘Ay, you have been brought up to it. It was no part of my education; and the only dose I ever had, being administered by not the first favourite in the world, has made me consider improvements
in hand
as the greatest of nuisances. Three years ago, the Admiral, my honoured uncle, bought a cottage at Twickenham for us all to spend our summers in; and my aunt and I went down to it quite in raptures: but it being excessively pretty, it was soon found necessary to be improved; and for three months we were all dirt and confusion, without a gravel walk to step on, or a bench fit for use. I would have everything as complete as possible in the country, shrubberies and flower-gardens, and rustic seats innumerable: but it must be all done without my care. Henry is different, he loves to be doing.’

Edmund was sorry to hear Miss Crawford, whom he was much disposed to admire, speak so freely of her uncle. It did not suit his sense of propriety, and he was silenced, till induced, by further smiles and liveliness, to put the matter by for the present.

‘Mr. Bertram,’ said she, ‘I have tidings of my harp at last. I am assured that it is safe at Northampton; and there it has probably been these ten days, in spite of the solemn assurances we have so often received to the contrary.’ Edmund expressed his pleasure and surprise. ‘The truth is, that our inquiries were too direct; we sent a servant, we went ourselves; this will not do seventy miles from London—but this morning we heard of it in the right way. It was seen by some farmer, and he told the miller, and the miller told the butcher, and the butcher’s son-in-law left word at the shop.’

‘I am very glad that you have heard of it, by whatever means; and hope there will be no further delay.’

‘I am to have it to-morrow; but how do you think it is to be conveyed? Not by a waggon or cart:—oh no, nothing of that kind could be hired in the village. I might as well have asked for porters and a hand-barrow.’

‘You would find it difficult, I daresay, just now, in the middle of a very late hay harvest, to hire a horse and cart?’

‘I was astonished to find what a piece of work was made of it! To want a horse and cart in the country seemed impossible, so I told my maid to speak for one directly; and as I cannot look out of my dressing-closet without seeing one farm-yard, nor walk in the shrubbery without passing another, I thought it would be only ask and have, and was rather grieved that I could not give the advantage to all. Guess my surprise, when I found that I had been asking the most unreasonable, most impossible thing in the world; had offended all the farmers, all the labourers, all the hay in the parish. As for Dr. Grant’s bailiff, I believe I had better keep out of
his
way; and my brother-in-law himself, who is all kindness in general, looked rather black upon me, when he found what I had been at.’

‘You could not be expected to have thought on the subject before; but when you
do
think of it, you must see the importance of getting in the grass. The hire of a cart at any time might not be so easy as you suppose; our farmers are not in the habit of letting them out; but in harvest, it must be quite out of their power to spare a horse.’

‘I shall understand all your ways in time; but coming down with the true London maxim, that everything is to be got with money, I was a little embarrassed at first by the sturdy independence of your country customs. However, I am to have my harp fetched to-morrow. Henry, who is good-nature itself, has offered to fetch it in his barouche. Will it not be honourably conveyed?’

Edmund spoke of the harp as his favourite instrument, and hoped to be soon allowed to hear her. Fanny had never heard the harp at all, and wished for it very much.

‘I shall be most happy to play to you both,’ said Miss Crawford; ‘at least, as long as you can like to listen; probably much longer, for I dearly love music myself, and where the natural taste is equal, the player must always be best off, for she is gratified in more ways than one. Now, Mr. Bertram, if you write to your brother, I entreat you to tell him that my harp is come, he heard so much of my misery without it. And you may say, if you please, that I shall prepare my most plaintive airs against his return, in compassion to his feelings, as I know his horse will lose.’

‘If I write, I will say whatever you wish me; but I do not at present foresee any occasion for writing.’

‘No, I daresay; nor if he were to be gone a twelvemonth, would you ever write to him, nor he to you, if it could be helped. The occasion would never be foreseen. What strange creatures brothers are! You would not write to each other but upon the most urgent necessity in the world; and when obliged to take up the pen to say that such a horse is ill, or such a relation dead, it is done in the fewest possible words. You have but one style among you. I know it perfectly. Henry, who is in every other respect exactly what a brother should be, who loves me, consults me, confides in me, and will talk to me by the hour together, has never yet turned the page in a letter; and very often it is nothing more than—“Dear Mary, I am just arrived. Bath seems full, and everything as usual. Yours sincerely.” That is the true manly style,—that is a complete brother’s letter.’

‘When they are at a distance from all their family,’ said Fanny, colouring for William’s sake, ‘they can write long letters.’

‘Miss Price has a brother at sea,’ said Edmund, ‘whose excellence as a correspondent makes her think you too severe upon us.’

‘At sea, has she?—In the king’s service, of course.’

Fanny would rather have had Edmund tell the story, but his determined silence obliged her to relate her brother’s situation; her voice was animated in speaking of his profession, and the foreign stations he had been on, but she could not mention the number of years that he had been absent without tears in her eyes. Miss Crawford civilly wished him an early promotion.

‘Do you know anything of my cousin’s captain?’ said Edmund; ‘Captain Marshall? You have a large acquaintance in the navy, I conclude?’

‘Among admirals, large enough; but,’ with an air of grandeur, ‘we know very little of the inferior ranks. Post-captains may be very good sort of men, but they do not belong to us. Of various admirals I could tell you a great deal; of them and their flags, and the gradation of their pay, and their bickerings and jealousies. But, in general, I can assure you that they are all passed over, and all very ill-used. Certainly, my home at my uncle’s brought me acquainted with a circle of admirals. Of
Rears,
and
Vices,
I saw enough.
⁴
Now, do not be suspecting me of a pun, I entreat.’

Edmund again felt grave, and only replied, ‘It is a noble profession.’

‘Yes, the profession is well enough, under two circumstances: if it make the fortune, and there be discretion in spending it; but, in short, it is not a favourite profession of mine. It has never worn an amiable form to
me.’

Edmund reverted to the harp, and was again very happy in the prospect of hearing her play.

The subject of improving grounds, meanwhile, was still under consideration among the others; and Mrs. Grant could not help addressing her brother, though it was calling his attention from Miss Julia Bertram.

‘My dear Henry, have
you
nothing to say? You have been an improver yourself, and from what I hear of Everingham, it may vie with any place in England. Its natural beauties, I am sure, are great. Everingham, as it used to be, was perfect in my estimation; such a happy fall of ground, and such timber! What would not I give to see it again!’

‘Nothing could be so gratifying to me as to hear your opinion of it,’ was his answer; ‘but I fear there would be some disappointment; —you would not find it equal to your present ideas. In extent it is a mere nothing;—you would be surprised at its insignificance; and as for improvement, there was very little for me to do—too little—I should like to have been busy much longer.’

‘You are fond of the sort of thing?’ said Julia.

‘Excessively; but what with the natural advantages of the ground, which pointed out, even to a very young eye, what little remained to be done, and my own consequent resolutions, I had not been of age three months before Everingham was all that it is now. My plan was laid at Westminster, a little altered, perhaps, at Cambridge, and at one-and-twenty executed. I am inclined to envy Mr. Rushworth for having so much happiness yet before him. I have been a devourer of my own.’

‘Those who see quickly will resolve quickly and act quickly,’ said Julia.
‘You
can never want employment. Instead of envying Mr. Rushworth, you should assist him with your opinion.’

Mrs. Grant, hearing the latter part of this speech, enforced it warmly, persuaded that no judgment could be equal to her brother’s; and as Miss Bertram caught at the idea likewise, and gave it her full support, declaring that, in her opinion, it was infinitely better to consult with friends and disinterested advisers, than immediately to throw the business into the hands of a professional man, Mr. Rushworth was very ready to request the favour of Mr. Crawford’s assistance; and Mr. Crawford, after properly depreciating his own abilities, was quite at his service in any way that could be useful. Mr. Rushworth then began to propose Mr. Crawford’s doing him the honour of coming over to Sotherton, and taking a bed there; when Mrs. Norris, as if reading in her two nieces’ minds their little approbation of a plan which was to take Mr. Crawford away, interposed with an amendment.

‘There can be no doubt of Mr. Crawford’s willingness; but why should not more of us go? Why should not we make a little party? Here are many that would be interested in your improvements, my dear Mr. Rushworth, and that would like to hear Mr. Crawford’s opinion on the spot, and that might be of some small use to you with
their
opinions; and for my own part I have been long wishing to wait upon your good mother again; nothing but having no horses of my own could have made me so remiss; but now I could go and sit a few hours with Mrs. Rushworth while the rest of you walked about and settled things, and then we could all return to a late dinner here, or dine at Sotherton, just as might be most agreeable to your mother, and have a pleasant drive home by moonlight. I daresay Mr. Crawford would take my two nieces and me in his barouche, and Edmund can go on horseback, you know, sister, and Fanny will stay at home with you.’

Lady Bertram made no objection; and every one concerned in the going was forward in expressing their ready concurrence, excepting Edmund, who heard it all and said nothing.

W
ell, Fanny, and how do you like Miss Crawford
now?‘
said Edmund the next day, after thinking some time on the subject himself. ‘How did you like her yesterday?’

‘Very well—very much. I like to hear her talk. She entertains me; and she is so extremely pretty, that I have great pleasure in looking at her.’

‘It is her countenance that is so attractive. She has a wonderful play of feature! But was there nothing in her conversation that struck you, Fanny, as not quite right?’

‘Oh yes, she ought not to have spoken of her uncle as she did. I was quite astonished. An uncle with whom she has been living so many years, and who, whatever his faults may be, is so very fond of her brother, treating him, they say, quite like a son. I could not have believed it!’

‘I thought you would be struck. It was very wrong—very indecorous.’

‘And very ungrateful, I think.’