第10章

“Theerrorisplainenough，“saidthelesscourteousEdmund；

“suchgirlsareillbroughtup。Theyaregivenwrongnotionsfromthebeginning。Theyarealwaysactinguponmotivesofvanity，andthereisnomorerealmodestyintheirbehaviour_before_theyappearinpublicthanafterwards。“

“Idonotknow，“repliedMissCrawfordhesitatingly。

“Yes，Icannotagreewithyouthere。Itiscertainlythemodestestpartofthebusiness。Itismuchworsetohavegirlsnotoutgivethemselvesthesameairsandtakethesamelibertiesasiftheywere，whichIhaveseendone。

Thatisworsethananything——quitedisgusting!“

“Yes，_that_isveryinconvenientindeed，“saidMr。Bertram。

“Itleadsoneastray；onedoesnotknowwhattodo。

Theclosebonnetanddemureairyoudescribesowell(andnothingwaseverjuster)，tellonewhatisexpected；

butIgotintoadreadfulscrapelastyearfromthewantofthem。IwentdowntoRamsgateforaweekwithafriendlastSeptember，justaftermyreturnfromtheWestIndies。

MyfriendSneyd——youhaveheardmespeakofSneyd，Edmund——

hisfather，andmother，andsisters，werethere，allnewtome。WhenwereachedAlbionPlacetheywereout；

wewentafterthem，andfoundthemonthepier：Mrs。andthetwoMissSneyds，withothersoftheiracquaintance。

Imademybowinform；andasMrs。Sneydwassurroundedbymen，attachedmyselftooneofherdaughters，walkedbyhersideallthewayhome，andmademyselfasagreeableasIcould；theyoungladyperfectlyeasyinhermanners，andasreadytotalkastolisten。

IhadnotasuspicionthatIcouldbedoinganythingwrong。

Theylookedjustthesame：bothwell-dressed，withveilsandparasolslikeothergirls；butIafterwardsfoundthatIhadbeengivingallmyattentiontotheyoungest，whowasnot_out_，andhadmostexcessivelyoffendedtheeldest。MissAugustaoughtnottohavebeennoticedforthenextsixmonths；andMissSneyd，Ibelieve，hasneverforgivenme。“

“Thatwasbadindeed。PoorMissSneyd。“ThoughIhavenoyoungersister，Ifeelforher。Tobeneglectedbeforeone’stimemustbeveryvexatious；butitwasentirelythemother’sfault。MissAugustashouldhavebeenwithhergoverness。Suchhalf-and-halfdoingsneverprosper。

ButnowImustbesatisfiedaboutMissPrice。

Doesshegotoballs？Doesshedineouteverywhere，aswellasatmysister’s？“

“No，“repliedEdmund；“Idonotthinkshehaseverbeentoaball。Mymotherseldomgoesintocompanyherself，anddinesnowherebutwithMrs。Grant，andFannystaysathomewith_her_。“

“Oh!thenthepointisclear。MissPriceisnotout。“

Mr。Bertramsetofffor，andMissCrawfordwaspreparedtofindagreatchasmintheirsociety，andtomisshimdecidedlyinthemeetingswhichwerenowbecomingalmostdailybetweenthefamilies；andontheiralldiningtogetherattheParksoonafterhisgoing，sheretookherchosenplacenearthebottomofthetable，fullyexpectingtofeelamostmelancholydifferenceinthechangeofmasters。Itwouldbeaveryflatbusiness，shewassure。Incomparisonwithhisbrother，Edmundwouldhavenothingtosay。Thesoupwouldbesentroundinamostspiritlessmanner，winedrankwithoutanysmilesoragreeabletrifling，andthevenisoncutupwithoutsupplyingonepleasantanecdoteofanyformerhaunch，orasingleentertainingstory，about“myfriendsuchaone。“

Shemusttrytofindamusementinwhatwaspassingattheupperendofthetable，andinobservingMr。Rushworth，whowasnowmakinghisappearanceatMansfieldforthefirsttimesincetheCrawfords’arrival。Hehadbeenvisitingafriendintheneighbouringcounty，andthatfriendhavingrecentlyhadhisgroundslaidoutbyanimprover，Mr。Rushworthwasreturnedwithhisheadfullofthesubject，andveryeagertobeimprovinghisownplaceinthesameway；

andthoughnotsayingmuchtothepurpose，couldtalkofnothingelse。Thesubjecthadbeenalreadyhandledinthedrawing-room；itwasrevivedinthedining-parlour。

MissBertram’sattentionandopinionwasevidentlyhischiefaim；andthoughherdeportmentshowedratherconscioussuperioritythananysolicitudetoobligehim，thementionofSothertonCourt，andtheideasattachedtoit，gaveherafeelingofcomplacency，whichpreventedherfrombeingveryungracious。

“IwishyoucouldseeCompton，“saidhe；“itisthemostcompletething!Ineversawaplacesoalteredinmylife。

ItoldSmithIdidnotknowwhereIwas。Theapproach_now_，isoneofthefinestthingsinthecountry：youseethehouseinthemostsurprisingmanner。Ideclare，whenI

gotbacktoSothertonyesterday，itlookedlikeaprison——

quiteadismaloldprison。“

“Oh，forshame!“criedMrs。Norris。“Aprisonindeed？

SothertonCourtisthenoblestoldplaceintheworld。“

“Itwantsimprovement，ma’am，beyondanything。Ineversawaplacethatwantedsomuchimprovementinmylife；

anditissoforlornthatIdonotknowwhatcanbedonewithit。“

“NowonderthatMr。Rushworthshouldthinksoatpresent，“

saidMrs。GranttoMrs。Norris，withasmile；“butdependuponit，Sothertonwillhave_every_improvementintimewhichhisheartcandesire。“

“Imusttrytodosomethingwithit，“saidMr。Rushworth，“butIdonotknowwhat。IhopeIshallhavesomegoodfriendtohelpme。“

“Yourbestfrienduponsuchanoccasion，“saidMissBertramcalmly，“wouldbeMr。Repton，Iimagine。“

“ThatiswhatIwasthinkingof。AshehasdonesowellbySmith，IthinkIhadbetterhavehimatonce。

Histermsarefiveguineasaday。“

“Well，andiftheywere_ten_，“criedMrs。Norris，“Iamsure_you_neednotregardit。Theexpenseneednotbeanyimpediment。IfIwereyou，Ishouldnotthinkoftheexpense。Iwouldhaveeverythingdoneinthebeststyle，andmadeasniceaspossible。

SuchaplaceasSothertonCourtdeserveseverythingthattasteandmoneycando。Youhavespacetoworkuponthere，andgroundsthatwillwellrewardyou。Formyownpart，ifIhadanythingwithinthefiftiethpartofthesizeofSotherton，Ishouldbealwaysplantingandimproving，fornaturallyIamexcessivelyfondofit。ItwouldbetooridiculousformetoattemptanythingwhereIamnow，withmylittlehalfacre。Itwouldbequiteaburlesque。

ButifIhadmoreroom，Ishouldtakeaprodigiousdelightinimprovingandplanting。WedidavastdealinthatwayattheParsonage：wemadeitquiteadifferentplacefromwhatitwaswhenwefirsthadit。Youyoungonesdonotremembermuchaboutit，perhaps；butifdearSirThomaswerehere，hecouldtellyouwhatimprovementswemade：andagreatdealmorewouldhavebeendone，butforpoorMr。Norris’ssadstateofhealth。Hecouldhardlyevergetout，poorman，toenjoyanything，and_that_

disheartenedmefromdoingseveralthingsthatSirThomasandIusedtotalkof。Ifithadnotbeenfor_that_，weshouldhavecarriedonthegardenwall，andmadetheplantationtoshutoutthechurchyard，justasDr。Granthasdone。Wewerealwaysdoingsomethingasitwas。

ItwasonlythespringtwelvemonthbeforeMr。Norris’sdeaththatweputintheapricotagainstthestablewall，whichisnowgrownsuchanobletree，andgettingtosuchperfection，sir，“addressingherselfthentoDr。Grant。

“Thetreethriveswell，beyondadoubt，madam，“repliedDr。Grant。

“Thesoilisgood；andIneverpassitwithoutregrettingthatthefruitshouldbesolittleworththetroubleofgathering。“

“Sir，itisaMoorPark，weboughtitasaMoorPark，anditcostus——thatis，itwasapresentfromSirThomas，butIsawthebill——andIknowitcostsevenshillings，andwaschargedasaMoorPark。“

“Youwereimposedon，ma’am，“repliedDr。Grant：

“thesepotatoeshaveasmuchtheflavourofaMoorParkapricotasthefruitfromthattree。Itisaninsipidfruitatthebest；butagoodapricotiseatable，whichnonefrommygardenare。“

“Thetruthis，ma’am，“saidMrs。Grant，pretendingtowhisperacrossthetabletoMrs。Norris，“thatDr。Granthardlyknowswhatthenaturaltasteofourapricotis：

heisscarcelyeverindulgedwithone，foritissovaluableafruit；withalittleassistance，andoursissucharemarkablylarge，fairsort，thatwhatwithearlytartsandpreserves，mycookcontrivestogetthemall。“

Mrs。Norris，whohadbeguntoredden，wasappeased；

and，foralittlewhile，othersubjectstookplaceoftheimprovementsofSotherton。Dr。GrantandMrs。Norriswereseldomgoodfriends；theiracquaintancehadbegunindilapidations，andtheirhabitsweretotallydissimilar。