| Her father read his newspaper, and her mother
lamented over the ragged carpet as usual, while the tea was in preparation,
and wished Rebecca would mend it; and Fanny was first
roused by his calling out to her, after humphing and considering
over a particular paragraph: ?What?s the name of your great cousins
in town, Fan??
A moment?s recollection enabled her to say, ?Rushworth, sir
?And don?t they live in Wimpole Street??
?Yes, sir
?Then, there?s the devil to pay among them, that?s all! There? (holding
out the paper to her); ?much good may such fine relations do
youI don?t know what Sir Thomas may think of such matters; he
may be too much of the courtier and fine gentleman to like his
daughter the lessBut, by G?! if she belonged to me, I?d give her
the rope?s end as long as I could stand over herA little flogging for
man and woman too would be the best way of preventing such
things
Fanny read to herself that ?it was with infinite concern the newspaper
had to announce to the world a matrimonial fracas in the
family of Mrof Wimpole Street; the beautiful Mrs whose
name had not long been enrolled in the lists of Hymen, and who
had promised to become so brilliant a leader in the fashionable world,
having quitted her husband?s louis vuitton handbags roof in company with the well-known
and captivating Mr the intimate friend and associate of Mr
and it was not known even to the editor of the newspaper whither
they were gone
?It is a mistake, sir,? said Fanny instantly; ?it must be a mistake, it
cannot be true; it must mean some other people
386
Mansfield Park
She spoke from the instinctive wish of delaying shame; she spoke
with a resolution which sprung from despair, for she spoke what she
did not, could not believe herselfIt had been the shock of conviction
as she readThe truth rushed on her; and how she could have
spoken at all, how she could even have breathed, was afterwards
matter of wonder to herselfPrice cared too little about the report to make her much answer
?It might be all a lie,? he acknowledged; ?but so many fine
ladies were going to the devil nowadays that way, that there was no
answering for anybody
?Indeed, I hope it is not true,? said MrsPrice plaintively; ?it
would be so very shocking! If I have spoken once to Rebecca about
that carpet, I am sure I have spoke at least a dozen times; have not I,
Betsey? And it would not be ten minutes? work
The horror of a mind like Fanny?s, as it received the conviction of
such guilt, and began to take in some part of christian dior china the misery that must
ensue, can hardly be describedAt first, it was a sort of stupefaction;
but every moment was quickening her perception of the horrible
evilShe could not doubt, she dared not indulge a hope, of the
paragraph being falseMiss Crawford?s letter, which she had read so
often as to make every line her own, was in frightful conformity
with itHer eager defence of her brother, her hope of its being hushed
up, her evident agitation, were all of a piece with something very
bad; and if there was a woman of character in existence, who could
treat as a trifle this sin of the first magnitude, who would try to gloss
it over, and desire to have it unpunished, she could believe Miss
Crawford to be the woman! Now she could see her own mistake as
to who were gone, or said to be gone
Rushworth; it was Mrs
Fanny seemed to herself never to have been shocked beforeThere
was no possibility of restThe evening passed without a pause of
misery, the night was totally sleeplessShe passed only from feelings
of sickness to shudderings of horror; and from hot fits of fever to
coldThe event was so shocking, that there were moments even
when her heart revolted from it as impossible: when she thought it
could not beA woman married only six buy tan gucci watch months ago; a man professing
himself devoted, even engaged to another; that other her near
387
Jane Austen
relation; the whole family, both families connected as they were by
tie upon tie; all friends, all intimate together! It was too horrible a
confusion of guilt, too gross a complication of evil, for human nature,
not in a state of utter barbarism, to be capable of! yet her judgment
told her it was soHis unsettled affections, wavering with his
vanity, Maria?s decided attachment, and no sufficient principle on
either side, gave it possibility: Miss Crawford?s letter stampt it a
fact
What would be the consequence? Whom would it not injure?
Whose views might it not affect? Whose peace would it not cut up
for ever? Miss Crawford, herself, Edmund; but it was dangerous,
perhaps, to tread such groundShe confined herself, or tried to confine
herself, to the simple, indubitable family misery which must
envelop all, if it were indeed a matter of certified guilt and public
exposureThe mother?s sufferings, the father?s; there she paused
Julia?s, Tom?s, Edmund?s; there a yet longer pauseThey were the
two on whom it would fall most horriblySir Thomas?s parental
solicitude and high sense of honour and decorum, Edmund?s upright
principles, omega constellation watch crystal unsuspicious temper, and genuine strength of feeling,
made her think it scarcely possible for them to support life and
reason under such disgrace; and it appeared to her that, as far as this
world alone was concerned, the greatest blessing to every one of
kindred with MrsRushworth would be instant annihilation
Nothing happened the next day, or the next, to weaken her terrors
Two posts came in, and brought no refutation, public or privateThere
was no second letter to explain away the first from Miss Crawford;
there was no intelligence from Mansfield, though it was now full time
for her to hear again from her auntThis was an evil omenShe had,
indeed, scarcely the shadow of a hope to soothe her mind, and was
reduced to so low and wan and trembling a condition, as no mother,
not unkind, except MrsPrice could have overlooked, when the third
day did bring the sickening knock, and a letter was again put into her
handsIt bore the London postmark, and came from Edmund
?Dear Fanny,?You know our present wretchednessMay God
support you under your share! We have been here two days, but
there is nothing to be doneThey cannot be tracedYou may not
have heard of the last blow?Julia?s elopement; she is gone to Scot388
Mansfield Park
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