第43章

“Youintendtobeveryrich？“saidEdmund，withalookwhich，toFanny’seye，hadagreatdealofseriousmeaning。

“Tobesure。Donotyou？Donotweall？“

“Icannotintendanythingwhichitmustbesocompletelybeyondmypowertocommand。MissCrawfordmaychuseherdegreeofwealth。Shehasonlytofixonhernumberofthousandsayear，andtherecanbenodoubtoftheircoming。

Myintentionsareonlynottobepoor。“

“Bymoderationandeconomy，andbringingdownyourwantstoyourincome，andallthat。Iunderstandyou——andaveryproperplanitisforapersonatyourtimeoflife，withsuchlimitedmeansandindifferentconnexions。

Whatcan_you_wantbutadecentmaintenance？Youhavenotmuchtimebeforeyou；andyourrelationsareinnosituationtodoanythingforyou，ortomortifyyoubythecontrastoftheirownwealthandconsequence。

Behonestandpoor，byallmeans——butIshallnotenvyyou；IdonotmuchthinkIshallevenrespectyou。

Ihaveamuchgreaterrespectforthosethatarehonestandrich。“

“Yourdegreeofrespectforhonesty，richorpoor，ispreciselywhatIhavenomannerofconcernwith。

Idonotmeantobepoor。PovertyisexactlywhatIhavedeterminedagainst。Honesty，inthesomethingbetween，inthemiddlestateofworldlycircumstances，isallthatI

amanxiousforyournotlookingdownon。“

“ButIdolookdownuponit，ifitmighthavebeenhigher。

Imustlookdownuponanythingcontentedwithobscuritywhenitmightrisetodistinction。“

“Buthowmayitrise？Howmaymyhonestyatleastrisetoanydistinction？“

Thiswasnotsoveryeasyaquestiontoanswer，andoccasionedan“Oh!“ofsomelengthfromthefairladybeforeshecouldadd，“Yououghttobeinparliament，oryoushouldhavegoneintothearmytenyearsago。“

“_That_isnotmuchtothepurposenow；andastomybeinginparliament，IbelieveImustwaittillthereisanespecialassemblyfortherepresentationofyoungersonswhohavelittletoliveon。No，MissCrawford，“headded，inamoreserioustone，“there_are_distinctionswhichI

shouldbemiserableifIthoughtmyselfwithoutanychance——

absolutelywithoutchanceorpossibilityofobtaining——

buttheyareofadifferentcharacter。“

Alookofconsciousnessashespoke，andwhatseemedaconsciousnessofmanneronMissCrawford’ssideasshemadesomelaughinganswer，wassorrowfullfoodforFanny’sobservation；andfindingherselfquiteunabletoattendassheoughttoMrs。Grant，bywhosesideshewasnowfollowingtheothers，shehadnearlyresolvedongoinghomeimmediately，andonlywaitedforcouragetosayso，whenthesoundofthegreatclockatMansfieldPark，strikingthree，madeherfeelthatshehadreallybeenmuchlongerabs

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