Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

F anny, fond of entertaining and yet sadly short of those families in and around Hadston village whose consequence would raise her own, was in the autumnal months always obliged to fill this surfeit with the few households of any worth left in the area who had not gone up to London for the winter, among which included the Rushes and the Edwins. The Edwins, of course, were only considered good enough to be invited to Norland on account of the Captain's having a fortune, and being distantly related to the inhabitants of Charlton Park, but the Rushes were always desirable company and morning calls were exchanged regularly between the two households. This was much to Margaret's disappointment, since Fanny always required her presence, and she found nothing in these fifteen minute visits to excite her interest, the talk consisting chiefly of people whom she had never met, and of the latest routs being given in the neighbourhood, or Miss Henrietta's constant talking of young men, soldiers and beaus until Margaret was deathly tired of hearing it.

The Rushes were due to go up to town at the same time as themselves, and so Fanny counted herself fortunate to still be able to call upon them the morning of the evening party. Margaret accompanied Fanny to call upon the Rushes after a late breakfast, and was gratified to find that the Miss Rushes were not at home, and only had to sit with Fanny and Mrs Rush, who talked non-stop of her oldest daughter's recent betrothal to a very wealthy young man. Uttering her polite congratulations, Margaret privately thought that they would be as well to marry off Miss Henrietta also, before she embarrassed them all with her unrestrained coquettish behaviour towards any man in the vicinity, young or old!

They returned to Norland in time to find Harry had duly arrived and gone to the stables to ride out with the head groom. Fanny had been complacent. ‘Poor dear boy! He never gets to ride at school, and he has such a fine seat that I encourage his going out as much as he can while he is here. They do not teach riding there, and I hold it as their one deficiency. He is at school at Westminster,' she added with pride, although Margaret had made no such enquiry, ‘where my brother Robert himself was. Quite taught Robert the manners of a gentleman and the all the natural superiority which has well-fitted him to mix in the world as well as any other man!'

Because some sort of comment seemed expected here, Margaret ventured to please Fanny by enquiring as to the kinds of subjects taught at Westminster, thinking privately that if Robert Ferrars was a product of his education, then she was very pleased that dear, shy Edward, who as oldest son had undergone a private education, had not been subject to such flimsy and threadbare accomplishments as being ‘fitted to mix in the world.' She said now curiously, ‘Is not Westminster a public school? I would have thought Mrs Ferrars would have preferred a private education for both of her sons?'

‘I have always held that a public school education in the right institution, is far superior to that of a private one; you can only imagine how Edward would turned out had my mother seen fit to send him to Westminster, rather than to Mr Pratt's! But my mother always regretted the move, I believe, since it has done my reticent brother no favours. Edward is not at all fit to be in company, he is so painfully shy! But as for my Harry, he will, I flatter myself, be as well educated as his uncle Robert, and suffer none of the deficiencies of his younger uncle.'

Margaret was by no means unwilling to defend her brother-in-law, since Edward was as rich in kindness and good sense as he was lacking in confidence among strangers, but as Fanny's word always prevailed and it was never any use to disagree with her, she held her tongue for the sake of peace.

And so poor Harry Dashwood had subsequently arrived with no fanfare, was received by the servants alone, and gone to ride. When he finally appeared in the drawing room later on, he was received by his mama with a perfunctory kiss on the head, greeted his Aunt Margaret with disinterest, and retreated to the window to poke at the wasp nest which lay just on the sill outside, until he was reprimanded by his mother and the window shut.

Margaret, with barely a memory of a boy still in his skeleton suits, had hoped for something, but expected nothing, and upon being reintroduced, in the latter regard was not disappointed. A pudgy, pale youth of eleven years, Harry Dashwood was on the whole sullen, ill tempered, and silent in her company. Margaret soon gave up trying to engage her nephew in conversation and watched bemusedly while his mama alternately praised and scolded her son until she had had her fill of ‘the incessant noise of children' and young Harry was sent up upstairs to amuse himself as soon as an early dinner had been taken.

The evening came, and with it, the agreeable prospect of seeing the Edwins again, perhaps for the last time, since there remained only a day between now and their departure. While Margaret had given Fanny her promise not to give the Edwins any particular attention, all the same a pleasant intimacy had sprung up from their walks together, and Margaret felt she could hardly feign indifference when they were such good friends. She wished, no matter how many stern looks Fanny might send her, to say her goodbyes to Miss Edwin and her father. Politeness would have obliged her, even if a genuine regard had not!

At half past seven, carriages began to sweep up the driveway. Margaret was careful to attend to her gown and hair so as to please Fanny and John, and had put on one of the pretty white muslins which Fanny had had made up for her. When she went into the drawing room, which had been made cozy and bright with the placement of candles and card tables, she met the Edwins with a feigned indifference of attention which had been ordered by Fanny. But out of perverseness, she greeted their other guests with just as much indifference, and took heart that Fanny more than once sighed her exasperation when Margaret had barely lifted her head after curtsying to the Rushes and the Colemans. If she wished Margaret to appear indifferent to the Edwins, then it would be only fair to show the same indifference to all of Fanny's guests!

She was met with cordial respect by most of the party, and was gratified that Fanny must approbate her behaviour as being modest as she could wish for. Then, catching Captain Edwin's eye, could not but help laugh as he sent her a knowing wink. She was still conscious of the memory of only two days earlier, sitting on the river bank without shoes and stockings, and so, apparently, was the captain!

Cards commenced, and Fanny was careful to place Margaret with the Colemans and Miss Mariah Rush. Captain Edwin and his daughter were sat down to another table with some people unknown to Margaret, but she was sure that at supper time she might have an opportunity to take Miss Edwin aside for some more private conversation. She liked Miss Edwin very well and had determined to extract a promise to exchange letters when the Dashwoods removed to London on Sunday.

After two hours of cards, a cold supper was served, and Fanny contrived to have Margaret seated opposite herself, and far enough away from either of the Edwins as to make conversation difficult. The proud Miss Rush was her table-mate, and at first she had no choice but to make polite conversation with the lady, but she found that she was well able to overhear Miss Edwin and her father Captain Edwin mention their relatives in Suffolk.

Fanny was now enquiring after them but in derisive tones. ‘And how do your relations go on at Charlton Park? Do not you visit that part of the country frequently?' she asked.

‘I try to pay my respects every few months, Mrs Dashwood, but I have not had the pleasure of visiting my uncle for some time,' replied the Captain. ‘My business, I'm afraid to say, has not allowed me leisure to venture into Suffolk as regularly as I would like this year, but I intend to spend a week there as soon as the roads will allow.'

‘Such a dislikable country,' remarked Fanny. ‘Nothing of interest to relieve the eye as one travels and the roads always so muddy!' She laughed affectedly, ‘In truth, I wonder at your need to go so often, Captain. It makes one wonder what your motive can be—surely so much trouble just to keep an old man happy? But I suppose your uncle is always glad to see you,' she sneered a little. ‘I am sure you do not harbour ideas of promoting yourself in order to benefit from the connection.' This latter was uttered sotto voce to Mr Dashwood, but Margaret heard and blushed, and turned away to hide her disgust.

Fanny's disdain for Captain Edwin, she knew, was born of an unhealthy regard for rank and perhaps from jealousy—Fanny placed more value on the fact that Lord Ambrose, Earl of Melbourne was rich as Croesus, and yet hardly attributed any merit to the Captain for his disinterested loyalty to the old fellow—and even worse, implied his visits there were motivated by an expectation of reward when the old man died! She knew that Captain Edwin was only distantly related to the Earl of Melbourne, by means of his late mother's connection with that family, but his loyalty to the kind old Earl was in character with the man she had come to know and respect. Fanny's rudeness could only be born of jealousy of the connection, and Margaret marvelled at the difference between her sister-in-law and her new friends, whose genuine regard for that high-born family was as disinterested as Fanny's was not.

John now made some comments on the difficulties of travel in the winter, and soon the talk was turned to travel in general, and Margaret listened most eagerly to all that was said on the topic. Once she caught Captain Edwin's eye upon her, and she blushed without knowing why, but when his daughter caught her eye also and they exchanged smiles, Margaret remembered her determination to find a moment to speak with Miss Edwin privately. She was able to accomplish this feat by contriving to make herself available by leaving the table as soon as supper were done with, to stand on her own by the window.

The plan answered; Captain Edwin was the first to approach her, his daughter by his side. Margaret was gratified. Feeling that Fanny could hardly object to their conversing now, she surrendered to the pleasure of speaking to them both.

‘How did you do at the card table, Miss Dashwood?' was Miss Edwin's first smiling enquiry. ‘I am afraid Papa and I don't play often, and so our companions got the better of us!'

‘I confess I prefer conversation to cards,' replied Margaret apologetically, ‘but we sometimes play at Sir John's. He is so amiable as to always be inviting all the young people in the county to evening parties, so that it gets rather more crowded in his drawing room than would comfortably allow for his card tables! But he swears that he adores a crush and is not at all put out by so many people in his own drawing room!'

‘Your friend Sir John sounds very amiable indeed!' noted Captain Edwin. ‘Do you miss your friends at Barton, Miss Dashwood? Or are you content here with perhaps fewer engagements than you have at home?'

‘I think of my friends at home every day—how could I not!—but I confess I am impatient to be in town.'

‘You will, no doubt, enjoy all that London has to offer, including the chance to meet new people. Emily here dislikes London, for the same reason, for she is not fashioned for company in the way that you are.'

‘It is true, Miss Dashwood,' interjected Miss Edwin earnestly, ‘I do not enjoy the crowds at all. I have been, twice, and the public balls are most packed in and airless with all the crowds whom attend them!'

‘Oh,' replied Margaret with a smile, ‘I am not all averse to company for itself, but like you, I also care not for crowds, for I prefer the country to the city, even though I enjoy the company of new people! In a large crowd one feels lost and insignificant, and I do not like the feeling at all!'

‘Then,' replied Captain Edwin, ‘can you be certain that London will meet all your ideas of happiness?'

‘No, not at all!' was Margaret's frank reply. ‘Although my hopes of it are unchanged. At least I shall be in the way of meeting a variety of people, some more to my liking than others, I suspect!'

‘And what is your taste in company, then?'

‘My idea of good company is not perhaps that of John and Fanny's—whose acquaintance in town are in those circles to which I have never been introduced. All I wish for myself is the company of well-informed people, perhaps those who have travelled, and know more of the world than I have been exposed to, and that way I might see through their eyes things that I may never see for myself.'

Miss Edwin nodded. ‘Then we are of one mind, Miss Dashwood! Papa has travelled so much that although I have seen little of the world myself, I feel from his describing his adventures, that I have been to those places, and experienced life on a ship!'

‘But do not you desire to stand on a real ship, to feel the waves below your feet, to know that your destination is across oceans you have never crossed, to experience it for yourself, rather than through someone else's eyes and ears?' Margaret's eyes shone. ‘For myself, I would give anything to travel the world as you do, Captain Edwin—to smell the spices in the air, to look upon visages unfamiliar, to eat the foods of different peoples—how much more that would mean to me!'

Miss Edwin laughed. ‘Miss Dashwood is a true sailor, then, is she not Papa? Perhaps you ought to find Miss Dashwood a posting on your next voyage!'

Captain Edwin was amused at Margaret's blush. ‘My daughter has a good notion, I think. Should you wish to join the navy, Miss Dashwood, give me notice and I shall find you position as a seaman—you can, I collect, swab a deck?'

‘Of course!' She laughed. ‘But speaking of my going up to London, I had something particular to ask you, Miss Edwin. It would mean very much to me if you would be willing to correspond while I am there—if you would like it?'

‘I would like it very much, Miss Dashwood,' replied Miss Edwin shyly. ‘I am glad you asked, for I had been wishing the same thing but had not the courage to ask. I shall write to you at Harley-street. Papa has Mr Dashwood's direction there, for he visits them there sometimes when he is in town.'

When Margaret looked her curiosity, Captain Edwin explained. ‘I have regular business in town, and when Dashwood is in Harley-street, I sometimes call. We have some shared interests in the Indies, and so we have some common interests to discuss. I can answer for the pleasure it will give Emily to correspond with you. We have so few families hereabouts with young ladies her own age. I do not include Miss Rush,' he added with a twinkle in his eye, ‘for I think my daughter and Miss Rush have decidedly different destinies.'

‘Indeed,' replied Margaret with a laugh. ‘Fanny and I paid a call this morning—we have heard the happy news!'

‘Ah! Then you have heard that the lady is shortly to be united in matrimony with a very pretentious young fellow with a baronetcy. I only hope Miss Rush will be very happy.'

His eyes twinkled merrily and she laughed. ‘I believe the young man to have several thousand year—in which case I believe she will be quite satisfied with her lot.'

‘Oh yes,' smiled Miss Edwin, ‘I understand the match to have been decided by her parents. How fortunate, Papa, that I have such a devoted father and that I will never have to have such a match made for me!'

They had scarcely finished speaking when Fanny, all in a sudden agitation, came to Margaret's side and requested her presence on the other side of the room, for Mrs Coleman was asking particularly to speak with her.

Margaret, seeing the unspoken reprimand in Fanny's eye, after an apologetic glance at her friends allowed herself to be drawn away. Fanny hissed in her ear, ‘Did you not attend when I said you were not permitted to give particular attention to Captain and Miss Edwin? It looks most peculiar to others, since you have barely spoken to Mr and Mr Rush, and the Colemans! You must not give the appearance of there being any preference for them when the Rushes are far above the Edwins in consequence!'

‘Captain Edwin and his daughter approached me, Fanny, and I did not wish to be rude. Besides, Miss Edwin and I have become good friends! But I shall come and speak to Mrs Coleman, if you wish it. I would have thought there was no harm done since Captain Edwin is a particular acquaintance of John's!'

‘Nevertheless, I desire you will not be so unguarded in your attentions! Miss Edwin is agreeable enough, I am sure, but you will soon be in London and you will need to learn to be comfortable in the company of those who rank far higher than Miss Emily Edwin!'

Margaret did not deign to reply to this remark but went composedly to Mrs Coleman for the remainder of supper. She had extracted the desired promise of correspondence from Miss Edwin, and was now made content enough in this, to direct her attention now to Fanny's other guests, and avoided every appearance of resentment toward her sister-in-law by making an effort to include the dreadful Misses Rush in her discourse.