Jane Austen 2 страница

to all the injustice and all the discredit of the selfish arrangements

which shut her out, and on many lesser occasions had endeavoured

to give Elizabeth the advantage of her own better judgement and experience;

but always in vain: Elizabeth would go her own way; and never had she

pursued it in more decided opposition to Lady Russell than in

this selection of Mrs Clay; turning from the society of so deserving

a sister, to bestow her affection and confidence on one who ought

to have been nothing to her but the object of distant civility.

 

From situation, Mrs Clay was, in Lady Russell`s estimate, a very unequal,

and in her character she believed a very dangerous companion;

and a removal that would leave Mrs Clay behind, and bring a choice

of more suitable intimates within Miss Elliot`s reach, was therefore

an object of first-rate importance.

 

Chapter 3

 

 

"I must take leave to observe, Sir Walter," said Mr Shepherd

one morning at Kellynch Hall, as he laid down the newspaper,

"that the present juncture is much in our favour. This peace will

be turning all our rich naval officers ashore. They will be

all wanting a home. Could not be a better time, Sir Walter,

for having a choice of tenants, very responsible tenants.

Many a noble fortune has been made during the war. If a rich admiral

were to come in our way, Sir Walter--"

 

"He would be a very lucky man, Shepherd," replied Sir Walter;

"that`s all I have to remark. A prize indeed would Kellynch Hall

be to him; rather the greatest prize of all, let him have taken

ever so many before; hey, Shepherd?"

 

Mr Shepherd laughed, as he knew he must, at this wit, and then added--

 

"I presume to observe, Sir Walter, that, in the way of business,

gentlemen of the navy are well to deal with. I have had a little knowledge

of their methods of doing business; and I am free to confess that they

have very liberal notions, and are as likely to make desirable tenants

as any set of people one should meet with. Therefore, Sir Walter,

what I would take leave to suggest is, that if in consequence of

any rumours getting abroad of your intention; which must be contemplated

as a possible thing, because we know how difficult it is to keep

the actions and designs of one part of the world from the notice

and curiosity of the other; consequence has its tax; I, John Shepherd,

might conceal any family-matters that I chose, for nobody would think it

worth their while to observe me; but Sir Walter Elliot has eyes upon him

which it may be very difficult to elude; and therefore, thus much

I venture upon, that it will not greatly surprise me if,

with all our caution, some rumour of the truth should get abroad;

in the supposition of which, as I was going to observe, since applications

will unquestionably follow, I should think any from our wealthy

naval commanders particularly worth attending to; and beg leave to add,

that two hours will bring me over at any time, to save you

the trouble of replying."

 

Sir Walter only nodded. But soon afterwards, rising and pacing the room,

he observed sarcastically--

 

"There are few among the gentlemen of the navy, I imagine, who would

not be surprised to find themselves in a house of this description."

 

"They would look around them, no doubt, and bless their good fortune,"

said Mrs Clay, for Mrs Clay was present: her father had driven her over,

nothing being of so much use to Mrs Clay`s health as a drive to Kellynch:

"but I quite agree with my father in thinking a sailor might be

a very desirable tenant. I have known a good deal of the profession;

and besides their liberality, they are so neat and careful

in all their ways! These valuable pictures of yours, Sir Walter,

if you chose to leave them, would be perfectly safe. Everything in

and about the house would be taken such excellent care of!

The gardens and shrubberies would be kept in almost as high order

as they are now. You need not be afraid, Miss Elliot, of your own

sweet flower gardens being neglected."

 

"As to all that," rejoined Sir Walter coolly, "supposing I were induced

to let my house, I have by no means made up my mind as to the privileges

to be annexed to it. I am not particularly disposed to favour a tenant.

The park would be open to him of course, and few navy officers,

or men of any other description, can have had such a range;

but what restrictions I might impose on the use of the pleasure-grounds,

is another thing. I am not fond of the idea of my shrubberies being

always approachable; and I should recommend Miss Elliot to be on her guard

with respect to her flower garden. I am very little disposed

to grant a tenant of Kellynch Hall any extraordinary favour,

I assure you, be he sailor or soldier."

 

After a short pause, Mr Shepherd presumed to say--

 

"In all these cases, there are established usages which

make everything plain and easy between landlord and tenant.

Your interest, Sir Walter, is in pretty safe hands. Depend upon me

for taking care that no tenant has more than his just rights.

I venture to hint, that Sir Walter Elliot cannot be half so jealous

for his own, as John Shepherd will be for him."

 

Here Anne spoke--

 

"The navy, I think, who have done so much for us, have at least

an equal claim with any other set of men, for all the comforts and

all the privileges which any home can give. Sailors work hard enough

for their comforts, we must all allow."

 

"Very true, very true. What Miss Anne says, is very true,"

was Mr Shepherd`s rejoinder, and "Oh! certainly," was his daughter`s;

but Sir Walter`s remark was, soon afterwards--

 

"The profession has its utility, but I should be sorry to see

any friend of mine belonging to it."

 

"Indeed!" was the reply, and with a look of surprise.

 

"Yes; it is in two points offensive to me; I have two strong grounds

of objection to it. First, as being the means of bringing persons

of obscure birth into undue distinction, and raising men to honours

which their fathers and grandfathers never dreamt of; and secondly,

as it cuts up a man`s youth and vigour most horribly; a sailor grows old

sooner than any other man. I have observed it all my life.

A man is in greater danger in the navy of being insulted by the rise

of one whose father, his father might have disdained to speak to,

and of becoming prematurely an object of disgust himself, than in

any other line. One day last spring, in town, I was in company

with two men, striking instances of what I am talking of;

Lord St Ives, whose father we all know to have been a country curate,

without bread to eat; I was to give place to Lord St Ives,

and a certain Admiral Baldwin, the most deplorable-looking personage

you can imagine; his face the colour of mahogany, rough and rugged

to the last degree; all lines and wrinkles, nine grey hairs of a side,

and nothing but a dab of powder at top. `In the name of heaven,

who is that old fellow?` said I to a friend of mine who was standing near,

(Sir Basil Morley). `Old fellow!` cried Sir Basil, `it is Admiral Baldwin.

What do you take his age to be?` `Sixty,` said I, `or perhaps sixty-two.`

`Forty,` replied Sir Basil, `forty, and no more.` Picture to yourselves

my amazement; I shall not easily forget Admiral Baldwin.

I never saw quite so wretched an example of what a sea-faring life can do;

but to a degree, I know it is the same with them all: they are all

knocked about, and exposed to every climate, and every weather,

till they are not fit to be seen. It is a pity they are not knocked

on the head at once, before they reach Admiral Baldwin`s age."

 

"Nay, Sir Walter," cried Mrs Clay, "this is being severe indeed.

Have a little mercy on the poor men. We are not all born to be handsome.

The sea is no beautifier, certainly; sailors do grow old betimes;

I have observed it; they soon lose the look of youth. But then,

is not it the same with many other professions, perhaps most other?

Soldiers, in active service, are not at all better off: and even in

the quieter professions, there is a toil and a labour of the mind,

if not of the body, which seldom leaves a man`s looks to the natural

effect of time. The lawyer plods, quite care-worn; the physician

is up at all hours, and travelling in all weather; and even

the clergyman--" she stopt a moment to consider what might

do for the clergyman;--"and even the clergyman, you know is obliged

to go into infected rooms, and expose his health and looks to

all the injury of a poisonous atmosphere. In fact, as I have

long been convinced, though every profession is necessary and honourable

in its turn, it is only the lot of those who are not obliged to follow any,

who can live in a regular way, in the country, choosing their own hours,

following their own pursuits, and living on their own property,

without the torment of trying for more; it is only their lot, I say,

to hold the blessings of health and a good appearance to the utmost:

I know no other set of men but what lose something of their personableness

when they cease to be quite young."

 

It seemed as if Mr Shepherd, in this anxiety to bespeak

Sir Walter`s good will towards a naval officer as tenant,

had been gifted with foresight; for the very first application

for the house was from an Admiral Croft, with whom he shortly afterwards

fell into company in attending the quarter sessions at Taunton; and indeed,

he had received a hint of the Admiral from a London correspondent.

By the report which he hastened over to Kellynch to make,

Admiral Croft was a native of Somersetshire, who having acquired

a very handsome fortune, was wishing to settle in his own country,

and had come down to Taunton in order to look at some advertised places

in that immediate neighbourhood, which, however, had not suited him;

that accidentally hearing--(it was just as he had foretold,

Mr Shepherd observed, Sir Walter`s concerns could not be kept a secret,)--

accidentally hearing of the possibility of Kellynch Hall being to let,

and understanding his (Mr Shepherd`s) connection with the owner,

he had introduced himself to him in order to make particular inquiries,

and had, in the course of a pretty long conference, expressed as strong

an inclination for the place as a man who knew it only by description

could feel; and given Mr Shepherd, in his explicit account of himself,

every proof of his being a most responsible, eligible tenant.

 

"And who is Admiral Croft?" was Sir Walter`s cold suspicious inquiry.

 

Mr Shepherd answered for his being of a gentleman`s family,

and mentioned a place; and Anne, after the little pause which followed,

added--

 

"He is a rear admiral of the white. He was in the Trafalgar action,

and has been in the East Indies since; he was stationed there,

I believe, several years."

 

"Then I take it for granted," observed Sir Walter, "that his face

is about as orange as the cuffs and capes of my livery."

 

Mr Shepherd hastened to assure him, that Admiral Croft was a very hale,

hearty, well-looking man, a little weather-beaten, to be sure,

but not much, and quite the gentleman in all his notions and behaviour;

not likely to make the smallest difficulty about terms, only wanted

a comfortable home, and to get into it as soon as possible;

knew he must pay for his convenience; knew what rent a ready-furnished

house of that consequence might fetch; should not have been surprised

if Sir Walter had asked more; had inquired about the manor;

would be glad of the deputation, certainly, but made no great point of it;

said he sometimes took out a gun, but never killed; quite the gentleman.

 

Mr Shepherd was eloquent on the subject; pointing out all

the circumstances of the Admiral`s family, which made him

peculiarly desirable as a tenant. He was a married man,

and without children; the very state to be wished for. A house was

never taken good care of, Mr Shepherd observed, without a lady:

he did not know, whether furniture might not be in danger of suffering

as much where there was no lady, as where there were many children.

A lady, without a family, was the very best preserver of furniture

in the world. He had seen Mrs Croft, too; she was at Taunton

with the admiral, and had been present almost all the time they were

talking the matter over.

 

"And a very well-spoken, genteel, shrewd lady, she seemed to be,"

continued he; "asked more questions about the house, and terms,

and taxes, than the Admiral himself, and seemed more conversant

with business; and moreover, Sir Walter, I found she was not quite

unconnected in this country, any more than her husband; that is to say,

she is sister to a gentleman who did live amongst us once;

she told me so herself: sister to the gentleman who lived

a few years back at Monkford. Bless me! what was his name?

At this moment I cannot recollect his name, though I have heard it so lately.

Penelope, my dear, can you help me to the name of the gentleman

who lived at Monkford: Mrs Croft`s brother?"

 

But Mrs Clay was talking so eagerly with Miss Elliot, that she did not

hear the appeal.

 

"I have no conception whom you can mean, Shepherd; I remember

no gentleman resident at Monkford since the time of old Governor Trent."

 

"Bless me! how very odd! I shall forget my own name soon, I suppose.

A name that I am so very well acquainted with; knew the gentleman

so well by sight; seen him a hundred times; came to consult me once,

I remember, about a trespass of one of his neighbours; farmer`s man

breaking into his orchard; wall torn down; apples stolen;

caught in the fact; and afterwards, contrary to my judgement,

submitted to an amicable compromise. Very odd indeed!"

 

After waiting another moment--

 

"You mean Mr Wentworth, I suppose?" said Anne.

 

Mr Shepherd was all gratitude.

 

"Wentworth was the very name! Mr Wentworth was the very man.

He had the curacy of Monkford, you know, Sir Walter, some time back,

for two or three years. Came there about the year ---5, I take it.

You remember him, I am sure."

 

"Wentworth? Oh! ay,--Mr Wentworth, the curate of Monkford.

You misled me by the term gentleman. I thought you were speaking of

some man of property: Mr Wentworth was nobody, I remember;

quite unconnected; nothing to do with the Strafford family.

One wonders how the names of many of our nobility become so common."

 

As Mr Shepherd perceived that this connexion of the Crofts did them

no service with Sir Walter, he mentioned it no more; returning,

with all his zeal, to dwell on the circumstances more indisputably

in their favour; their age, and number, and fortune; the high idea

they had formed of Kellynch Hall, and extreme solicitude for

the advantage of renting it; making it appear as if they ranked

nothing beyond the happiness of being the tenants of Sir Walter Elliot:

an extraordinary taste, certainly, could they have been supposed in

the secret of Sir Walter`s estimate of the dues of a tenant.

 

It succeeded, however; and though Sir Walter must ever look with

an evil eye on anyone intending to inhabit that house, and think them

infinitely too well off in being permitted to rent it on the highest terms,

he was talked into allowing Mr Shepherd to proceed in the treaty,

and authorising him to wait on Admiral Croft, who still remained

at Taunton, and fix a day for the house being seen.

 

Sir Walter was not very wise; but still he had experience enough

of the world to feel, that a more unobjectionable tenant,

in all essentials, than Admiral Croft bid fair to be, could hardly offer.

So far went his understanding; and his vanity supplied a little

additional soothing, in the Admiral`s situation in life, which was just

high enough, and not too high. "I have let my house to Admiral Croft,"

would sound extremely well; very much better than to any mere Mr--;

a Mr (save, perhaps, some half dozen in the nation,) always needs

a note of explanation. An admiral speaks his own consequence,

and, at the same time, can never make a baronet look small.

In all their dealings and intercourse, Sir Walter Elliot must ever

have the precedence.

 

Nothing could be done without a reference to Elizabeth:

but her inclination was growing so strong for a removal,

that she was happy to have it fixed and expedited by a tenant at hand;

and not a word to suspend decision was uttered by her.

 

Mr Shepherd was completely empowered to act; and no sooner had

such an end been reached, than Anne, who had been a most attentive listener

to the whole, left the room, to seek the comfort of cool air for her

flushed cheeks; and as she walked along a favourite grove, said,

with a gentle sigh, "A few months more, and he, perhaps,

may be walking here."

 

Chapter 4

 

 

He was not Mr Wentworth, the former curate of Monkford,

however suspicious appearances may be, but a Captain Frederick Wentworth,

his brother, who being made commander in consequence of the action

off St Domingo, and not immediately employed, had come into Somersetshire,

in the summer of 1806; and having no parent living, found a home

for half a year at Monkford. He was, at that time, a remarkably fine

young man, with a great deal of intelligence, spirit, and brilliancy;

and Anne an extremely pretty girl, with gentleness, modesty, taste,

and feeling. Half the sum of attraction, on either side, might have

been enough, for he had nothing to do, and she had hardly anybody to love;

but the encounter of such lavish recommendations could not fail.

They were gradually acquainted, and when acquainted, rapidly and

deeply in love. It would be difficult to say which had seen

highest perfection in the other, or which had been the happiest:

she, in receiving his declarations and proposals, or he in

having them accepted.

 

A short period of exquisite felicity followed, and but a short one.

Troubles soon arose. Sir Walter, on being applied to, without actually

withholding his consent, or saying it should never be, gave it all

the negative of great astonishment, great coldness, great silence,

and a professed resolution of doing nothing for his daughter.

He thought it a very degrading alliance; and Lady Russell, though with

more tempered and pardonable pride, received it as a most unfortunate one.

 

Anne Elliot, with all her claims of birth, beauty, and mind,

to throw herself away at nineteen; involve herself at nineteen

in an engagement with a young man, who had nothing but himself

to recommend him, and no hopes of attaining affluence, but in the chances

of a most uncertain profession, and no connexions to secure

even his farther rise in the profession, would be, indeed, a throwing away,

which she grieved to think of! Anne Elliot, so young; known to so few,

to be snatched off by a stranger without alliance or fortune;

or rather sunk by him into a state of most wearing, anxious,

youth-killing dependence! It must not be, if by any fair interference

of friendship, any representations from one who had almost a mother`s love,

and mother`s rights, it would be prevented.

 

Captain Wentworth had no fortune. He had been lucky in his profession;

but spending freely, what had come freely, had realized nothing.

But he was confident that he should soon be rich: full of life and ardour,

he knew that he should soon have a ship, and soon be on a station

that would lead to everything he wanted. He had always been lucky;

he knew he knew he should be so still. Such confidence, powerful

in its own warmth, and bewitching in the wit which often expressed it,

must have been enough for Anne; but Lady Russell saw it very differently.

His sanguine temper, and fearlessness of mind, operated very differently

on her. She saw in it but an aggravation of the evil. It only added

a dangerous character to himself. He was brilliant, he was headstrong.

Lady Russell had little taste for wit, and of anything approaching to

imprudence a horror. She deprecated the connexion in every light.

 

Such opposition, as these feelings produced, was more than

Anne could combat. Young and gentle as she was, it might yet

have been possible to withstand her father`s ill-will,

though unsoftened by one kind word or look on the part of her sister;

but Lady Russell, whom she had always loved and relied on, could not,

with such steadiness of opinion, and such tenderness of manner,

be continually advising her in vain. She was persuaded to believe

the engagement a wrong thing: indiscreet, improper, hardly capable

of success, and not deserving it. But it was not a merely selfish caution,

under which she acted, in putting an end to it. Had she not

imagined herself consulting his good, even more than her own,

she could hardly have given him up. The belief of being prudent,

and self-denying, principally for his advantage, was her chief consolation,

under the misery of a parting, a final parting; and every consolation

was required, for she had to encounter all the additional pain of opinions,

on his side, totally unconvinced and unbending, and of his feeling himself

ill used by so forced a relinquishment. He had left the country

in consequence.

 

A few months had seen the beginning and the end of their acquaintance;

but not with a few months ended Anne`s share of suffering from it.

Her attachment and regrets had, for a long time, clouded every

enjoyment of youth, and an early loss of bloom and spirits

had been their lasting effect.

 

More than seven years were gone since this little history

of sorrowful interest had reached its close; and time had

softened down much, perhaps nearly all of peculiar attachment to him,

but she had been too dependent on time alone; no aid had been given

in change of place (except in one visit to Bath soon after the rupture),

or in any novelty or enlargement of society. No one had ever

come within the Kellynch circle, who could bear a comparison with

Frederick Wentworth, as he stood in her memory. No second attachment,

the only thoroughly natural, happy, and sufficient cure,

at her time of life, had been possible to the nice tone of her mind,

the fastidiousness of her taste, in the small limits of the society

around them. She had been solicited, when about two-and-twenty,

to change her name, by the young man, who not long afterwards found

a more willing mind in her younger sister; and Lady Russell had

lamented her refusal; for Charles Musgrove was the eldest son of a man,

whose landed property and general importance were second in that country,

only to Sir Walter`s, and of good character and appearance;

and however Lady Russell might have asked yet for something more,

while Anne was nineteen, she would have rejoiced to see her at twenty-two

so respectably removed from the partialities and injustice of

her father`s house, and settled so permanently near herself.

But in this case, Anne had left nothing for advice to do;

and though Lady Russell, as satisfied as ever with her own discretion,

never wished the past undone, she began now to have the anxiety

which borders on hopelessness for Anne`s being tempted, by some man

of talents and independence, to enter a state for which she held her

to be peculiarly fitted by her warm affections and domestic habits.

 

They knew not each other`s opinion, either its constancy or its change,

on the one leading point of Anne`s conduct, for the subject was never

alluded to; but Anne, at seven-and-twenty, thought very differently

from what she had been made to think at nineteen. She did not blame

Lady Russell, she did not blame herself for having been guided by her;

but she felt that were any young person, in similar circumstances,

to apply to her for counsel, they would never receive any of such

certain immediate wretchedness, such uncertain future good.

She was persuaded that under every disadvantage of disapprobation at home,

and every anxiety attending his profession, all their probable fears,

delays, and disappointments, she should yet have been a happier woman

in maintaining the engagement, than she had been in the sacrifice of it;

and this, she fully believed, had the usual share, had even more than

the usual share of all such solicitudes and suspense been theirs,

without reference to the actual results of their case, which,

as it happened, would have bestowed earlier prosperity than

could be reasonably calculated on. All his sanguine expectations,

all his confidence had been justified. His genius and ardour

had seemed to foresee and to command his prosperous path.

He had, very soon after their engagement ceased, got employ:

and all that he had told her would follow, had taken place.

He had distinguished himself, and early gained the other step in rank,

and must now, by successive captures, have made a handsome fortune.

She had only navy lists and newspapers for her authority,

but she could not doubt his being rich; and, in favour of his constancy,

she had no reason to believe him married.

 

How eloquent could Anne Elliot have been! how eloquent, at least,

were her wishes on the side of early warm attachment, and a cheerful

confidence in futurity, against that over-anxious caution which

seems to insult exertion and distrust Providence! She had been forced

into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older:

the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.

 

With all these circumstances, recollections and feelings,

she could not hear that Captain Wentworth`s sister was likely

to live at Kellynch without a revival of former pain; and many a stroll,

and many a sigh, were necessary to dispel the agitation of the idea.

She often told herself it was folly, before she could harden her nerves