第72章

“AndMrs。Grant，didshesay——didshespeak；wasshethereallthetime？“

“Yes，shewasagreeingexactlywithhersister。Thesurpriseofyourrefusal，Fanny，seemstohavebeenunbounded。

ThatyoucouldrefusesuchamanasHenryCrawfordseemsmorethantheycanunderstand。IsaidwhatIcouldforyou；

butingoodtruth，astheystatedthecase——youmustproveyourselftobeinyoursensesassoonasyoucanbyadifferentconduct；nothingelsewillsatisfythem。

Butthisisteasingyou。Ihavedone。Donotturnawayfromme。“

“I_should_havethought，“saidFanny，afterapauseofrecollectionandexertion，“thateverywomanmusthavefeltthepossibilityofaman’snotbeingapproved，notbeinglovedbysomeoneofhersexatleast，lethimbeeversogenerallyagreeable。Lethimhavealltheperfectionsintheworld，Ithinkitoughtnottobesetdownascertainthatamanmustbeacceptabletoeverywomanhemayhappentolikehimself。But，evensupposingitisso，allowingMr。Crawfordtohavealltheclaimswhichhissistersthinkhehas，howwasItobepreparedtomeethimwithanyfeelinganswerabletohisown？

Hetookmewhollybysurprise。Ihadnotanideathathisbehaviourtomebeforehadanymeaning；andsurelyI

wasnottobeteachingmyselftolikehimonlybecausehewastakingwhatseemedveryidlenoticeofme。

Inmysituation，itwouldhavebeentheextremeofvanitytobeformingexpectationsonMr。Crawford。Iamsurehissisters，ratinghimastheydo，musthavethoughtitso，supposinghehadmeantnothing。How，then，wasItobe——

tobeinlovewithhimthemomenthesaidhewaswithme？

HowwasItohaveanattachmentathisservice，assoonasitwasaskedfor？Hissistersshouldconsidermeaswellashim。Thehigherhisdeserts，themoreimproperformeevertohavethoughtofhim。And，and——wethinkverydifferentlyofthenatureofwomen，iftheycanimagineawomansoverysooncapableofreturninganaffectionasthisseemstoimply。“

“Mydear，dearFanny，nowIhavethetruth。Iknowthistobethetruth；andmostworthyofyouaresuchfeelings。

Ihadattributedthemtoyoubefore。IthoughtIcouldunderstandyou。YouhavenowgivenexactlytheexplanationwhichIventuredtomakeforyoutoyourfriendandMrs。Grant，andtheywerebothbettersatisfied，thoughyourwarm-heartedfriendwasstillrunawaywithalittlebytheenthusiasmofherfondnessforHenry。Itoldthemthatyouwereofallhumancreaturestheoneoverwhomhabithadmostpowerandnoveltyleast；andthattheverycircumstanceofthenoveltyofCrawford’saddresseswasagainsthim。

Theirbeingsonewandsorecentwasallintheirdisfavour；

thatyoucouldtoleratenothingthatyouwerenotusedto；

andagreatdealmoretothesamepurpose，togivethemaknowledgeofyourcha

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