He probably avoided being alone with herWhat was...
He probably avoided being alone
with herWhat was to be inferred? That his judgment submitted to
all his own peculiar and bitter share of this family affliction, but that
it was too keenly felt to be a subject of the slightest communication
This must be his stateHe yielded, but it was with agonies which did
not admit of speechLong, long would it be ere Miss Crawford’s
name passed his lips again, or she could hope for a renewal of such
confidential intercourse as had beenThey reached Mansfield on Thursday, and it was not
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till Sunday evening that Edmund began to talk to her on the subject
Sitting with her on Sunday evening—a wet Sunday evening—
the very time of all others when, if a friend is at hand, the heart
must be opened, and everything told; no one else in the room, except
his mother, who, after hearing an affecting sermon, had cried
herself to sleep, it was impossible not to speak; and so, with the
usual beginnings, hardly to be traced as to what came first, and the
usual declaration that if she would listen to him for a few minutes, he
should be very brief, and certainly never tax her kindness in the same
way again; she gucci purses need not fear a repetition; it would be a subject prohibited
entirely: he entered upon the luxury of relating circumstances
and sensations of the first interest to himself, to one of whose affectionate
sympathy he was quite convinced
How Fanny listened, with what curiosity and concern, what pain
and what delight, how the agitation of his voice was watched, and
how carefully her own eyes were fixed on any object but himself,
may be imaginedThe opening was alarmingHe had seen Miss
CrawfordHe had been invited to see herHe had received a note
from Lady Stornaway to beg him to call; and regarding it as what
was meant to be the last, last interview of friendship, and investing
her with all the feelings of shame and wretchedness which Crawford’s
sister ought to have known, he had gone to her in such a state of
mind, so softened, so devoted, as made it for a few moments impossible
to Fanny’s fears that it should be the lastBut as he proceeded
in his story, these fears were overShe had met him, he said, with a
serious—certainly a serious—even an agitated air; but before he had
been able to speak one intelligible sentence, she had introduced the
subject in knock off tiffany jewelry a manner which he owned had shocked him“‘I heard
you were in town,’ said she; ‘I wanted to see youLet us talk over
this sad businessWhat can equal the folly of our two relations?’ I
could not answer, but I believe my looks spoke
Sometimes how quick to feel! With a graver look and voice she then
added, ‘I do not mean to defend Henry at your sister’s expense So
she began, but how she went on, Fanny, is not fit, is hardly fit to be
repeated to youI cannot recall all her wordsI would not dwell
upon them if I couldTheir substance was great anger at the folly of
eachShe reprobated her brother’s folly in being drawn on by a
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woman whom he had never cared for, to do what must lose him the
woman he adored; but still more the folly of poor Maria, in sacrificing
such a situation, plunging into such difficulties, under the idea
of being really loved by a man who had long ago made his indifference
clearGuess what I must have feltTo hear the woman whom—
no harsher name than folly given! So voluntarily, so freely, so coolly
to canvass it! No reluctance, no horror, no feminine, shall I say, no
modest loathings? This is what the world discount tiffany's necklace doesFor where, Fanny,
shall we find a woman whom nature had so richly endowed? Spoilt,
spoilt!”
After a little reflection, he went on with a sort of desperate calmness
“I will tell you everything, and then have done for everShe saw
it only as folly, and that folly stamped only by exposureThe want of
common discretion, of caution: his going down to Richmond for the
whole time of her being at Twickenham; her putting herself in the
power of a servant; it was the detection, in short—oh, Fanny! it was
the detection, not the offence, which she reprobatedIt was the imprudence
which had brought things to extremity, and obliged her
brother to give up every dearer plan in order to fly with her“And what,” said Fanny (believing herself required to
speak), “what could you say?”
“Nothing, nothing to be understoodI was like a man stunnedShe
went on, began to talk of you; yes, then she began to talk of you,
regretting, as well she might, the loss of such a—There she spoke
very rationallyBut she has always done justice to you‘He has thrown
away,’ said she, ‘such a woman as he will never see againShe would
have fixed him; she would have made him happy for ever My omega aqua terra watch dearest
Fanny, I am giving you, I hope, more pleasure than pain by this retrospect
of what might have been—but what never can be nowYou do
not wish me to be silent? If you do, give me but a look, a word, and I
have done
No look or word was given
“Thank God,” said he“We were all disposed to wonder, but it
seems to have been the merciful appointment of Providence that
the heart which knew no guile should not sufferShe spoke of you
with high praise and warm affection; yet, even here, there was alloy,
a dash of evil; for in the midst of it she could exclaim, ‘Why would
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not she have him? It is all her faultSimple girl! I shall never forgive
herHad she accepted him as she ought, they might now have been
on the point of marriage, and Henry would have been too happy
and too busy to want any other objectHe would have taken no
pains to be on terms with MrsIt would have all
ended in a regular standing flirtation, in yearly meetings at Sotherton
and Everingham Could you have believed it possible? But the charm
is broken
“Cruel!” said Fanny, “quite cruelAt such a moment to give way
to gaiety, to speak with lightness, and to you! Absolute vintage rolex watch crue