Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

‘ M y sister is to go abroad again.' Colonel Brandon was grave and unreadable, as he was so often these days, thought Marianne.

They were all sitting in the drawing room, having retired there after dinner as was their custom in the summertime, for the drawing room faced west and caught the early evening breezes. Margaret had ensured her mother was wrapped firmly against the cool evening, but the rest of their little party was at ease, facing the windows and the agreeable view of the gardens. The last of the summer light was dimming rapidly.

While Elinor, Edward and Mrs Dashwood expressed their polite dismay to hear the Colonel's sister was once again indisposed, Marianne raised her eyes in surprise. ‘Did you have a letter from Whitwell today?'

‘I did—they are to quit Whitwell for Avignon sooner than they had planned. Mary's rheumatism has obliged them to take the warmer weather there almost immediately. She desires her best love to you, of course,' he added, with a glance at his wife. ‘Perville has asked if I can recommend him an overseer as their removal has been very ill-timed with the loss of their usual man. I thought I might take Beckham over next week, as he ought to be promoted, and will do very well at Whitwell. I am content to lose him, for I would rather see him happily established in a position more suited to his talents than wasted here. I shall, of course, take William with me,' he added casually, sipping his coffee. ‘We shall be gone a se'en night or more, so that I can go over all that is needed before they remove.'

He made these observations without meeting Marianne's eyes, and when his wife had uttered a sharply indrawn breath, he had seemed to Marianne to purposely become deaf. But Marianne, afraid of offending, had already composed herself, and having intercepted the sharp, perceptive glance of her elder sister, wished to create no suspicion of being materially affected by this news. She had taken much care at dinner to appear in good spirits, and to eat as hearty a meal as she could stomach. It was as well that the tiredness she had felt earlier had dissipated with the arrival of her family, so she was able to bring serenity quickly to her countenance.

She remarked now in a tolerably composed tone, ‘I am sure William will enjoy a visit to Whitwell—and it is good of you to be of service to your brother-in-law—when you have so many duties here.' She would not be churlish, but she could not prevent a slight hurt to pervade her tone. Brandon to leave her for some days! Then she chided herself for mean-spiritedness, for her husband, she knew, was the generous and kind soul that she had come to love, and if his kindness meant he must leave her for a week or more, she must be content to know it would not be long before he would return to Delaford. Still, it stung her that he was so taken up in his own affairs that he had become impervious to her own aggravated state of mind.

But if Brandon had perceived any accusation in her tone, he did not comment. He sipped his coffee quietly, while Marianne hid her distress by taking up the volume of Wordsworth which she had been reading to them each week and asking her mama if she did not find " The Rime of the Ancyent Marinerer " excessively moving.

Edward, perceiving but not quite understanding the coolness which had suddenly fallen between two of his dearest friends, now engaged his brother-in-law in a lively conversation composed of questions about Whitwell and its general running, and Elinor and Mrs Dashwood were able to divert Marianne from her book, and ask about Brandon's sister, Mrs Mary Perville, whose health had been fragile for some years.

Delaford had had little to do with Whitwell before the Colonel's marriage, partly because of Whitwell's being situated at some inconvenient distance to make visits frequent, and even more so because there had always been a coolness of feeling between the Colonel and his older sibling.

This coolness had arisen as a consequence of familial partiality. Mary Brandon had taken the part of her elder brother, Richard Brandon when the younger Brandon had objected to the marriage of his brother to their cousin, Miss Eliza Williams, a young lady to whom the younger Brandon had already given his unfortunate heart. It was an affair to cause much pain to all three parties, especially since Miss Williams had also given her heart to the young Philip Brandon. But paternal authority had prevailed, somewhat unfairly, and Miss Williams had been unwillingly betrothed to the elder brother and neither father would release their child from the match.

Brandon had been obliged to separate himself from the pair for fear of giving pain not only to himself, but to Miss Williams. He had gone into the army and they had not seen him for three years afterwards. But Mary had never forgiven her younger brother for exciting bad feelings among the siblings. She had ostracized Brandon the younger for many years afterward, even after poor Mrs Richard Brandon had been cruelly rejected by her husband when no heir had been produced. Poor Mrs Brandon had then consorted with questionable society, been seduced and left to rot in a poor house, to die of consumption. Her illegitimate daughter, Elizabeth, or Beth as she had come to be known to them, had become Brandon's ward. It had all been enough for Mary Brandon to fester on embittered feelings and she had not unbent to any great degree throughout the years that passed afterwards.

Colonel Brandon, however, had kept up an intermittent correspondence with his sister out of a high regard for kinship. Additionally, his sister's husband, a Frenchman named Perville, was an affable enough fellow that after Brandon's marriage to Marianne four years ago, they had been invited twice to Whitwell to dine, after which an intermittent correspondence had soon turned into a regular exchange, and had finally warmed the relations that had once been a deal cooler. So much time now had passed that Mrs Mary Perville was inclined to forgive her younger brother and forget for the most part, the whole affair.

Had she known that Miss Eliza Williams' grandchild now resided incognito at Delaford, she would not, perhaps, have been so noble-minded towards her younger brother, but on no account would Colonel Brandon relay this information, and like everyone else acquainted with the Brandons, his sister had been informed only that a child of the family of one of Marianne's distant relations had been given a home at Delaford, and would be raised into a respectable trade which might serve him in his adulthood.

Now as the party sat around the Delaford drawing room, the fire danced in the grate and the light of the candles brought a glow to the room. Edward still sat with Colonel Brandon, and the sisters and their mama talked agreeably—first of Whitwell, then of Margaret and Mrs Dashwood's impending return to Barton Cottage. Mrs Dashwood expressed her gratitude at being humoured for so long at Delaford, and assured Marianne that she was now quite well enough to go home, but that she and Margaret must surely miss their company. She did not say anything of Margaret's invitation since Margaret had begged her to wait until she had brought up the topic herself.

Presently, however, Margaret went to sit beside Elinor, and said in a low voice, ‘Elinor, Mama has had a letter from Fanny. We wanted to ask your advice, for it pertains to me.'

‘To you!' remarked Elinor in some astonishment, ‘What can Fanny have to say to you? We barely hear from John and Fanny as it is!'

Marianne, who had overhead these remarks, said in droll tones from the opposite sofa, ‘Unless they are still crowing over their pretentious new fountain, and Fanny wishes once again to remind us of it! What a picture she made of it—and then to send it to us a gift, as if we would derive some pleasure from seeing our dearest Norland turned into a—a showpiece!'

‘That is unchristian of you, dearest,' rebuked Elinor gently, but then, concluding that to argue against the propriety of her sister's remarks was in some way dishonest considering her own dislike of their brother's wife, added with a sigh, ‘We none of us cherish Fanny as a sister, of course, but still, it is unbecoming in you Marianne, to be so hard on our sister-in-law. But I collect you are right, and I may add that I would rather have the dearest of my friends about me as we have here, than to have three fountains such as that monstrous sight at Norland!'

‘Yes,' replied Marianne with a glint in her eye. ‘She did make rather an excellent watercolour of it, however. How good it was of her to send it to us! What a great pity there was no room for the picture on our walls here and it had to be preserved in a chest in the attic!'

‘Your poor dear father would never have tolerated such an ornament!' added Mrs Dashwood warmly. ‘What an eyesore it seems! I think I shall never visit Norland again on account of disliking the mere idea of it so much! Full square, with so much ornamentation that the eye does not know where to alight first, and as for that monstrous Grecian urn from which the water flows! How Norland's prettiness, its natural elegance, can bear such a thing, I cannot imagine!'

‘I dare say your forbearance over it will never be tried, Mama, for Fanny and John have not invited us to Norland for many years, nor are they likely to,' added Marianne acidly. ‘They do not consider us fit company for their elevated circles, I suppose! What say you, Edward, about your sister's taste in fountains? You have seen it with your own eyes. Does it answer to everything handsome and elegant, or do you turn your eyes from it in horror?'

‘Nay, do not tease him—for shame, Marianne!' cried Elinor, but Edward had taken no offence.

Having fallen into one of his customary reveries, he now shook himself and said, ‘Ah! As for Fanny's taste, I know a little of it, for as you say, I have visited Norland often enough—' Here, everyone was now looking at him so expectantly that he was obliged to continue. ‘But as for the fountain itself—and I must confess I know so little of fountains and architecture in general myself that I perhaps ought not comment—but to my untrained eye, well—the new fountain seems perhaps a little too large for the house. It appears overdone and unnatural-looking against the rambling and wild beauty of the garden, and does not appear to match Norland's style at all. The squared-off lines seem angular and harsh, and out of place when paired with the ornate centre-piece, to my own mind, whereas Norland's natural elegance issues from its being irregular and in an older, more humble design. But I speak only from my own taste alone, which is not as refined as your own, Mary, so you and Marianne must forgive me if I have misspoken out of ignorance. As you know I understand little of art in general…much less than Marianne, who must always be my guide in these things.'

‘Not at all, Edward! But you are too flattering, I am sure!' cried Marianne, while Mrs Dashwood smiled her approval. ‘You speak my own opinion, dear Edward.'

‘Well said, Edward!' cried Margaret with delight. ‘You do have artistic taste, if you only trust your own judgement! But Marianne, you are wrong about invitations to Norland. Mama has had a letter from Norland today—you will never guess what it says—we must have your sensible counsel Elinor—must we not, Mama? And yours, too, Colonel Brandon!'

Brandon, entreated in such a way by his favourite sister-in-law, now came to stand nearby so as to hear the matter more clearly.

Mrs Dashwood now brought out the letter. ‘Well, since you are all ready to hear it, and we might have the counsel of you all, it is true that I have had a letter from Fanny today. It is unexpected indeed, but she and John have invited Margaret to Norland—yes, Elinor, you may well look surprised, I confess myself astonished when I read her letter. But what think you all? Do not you think it a very good opportunity for Margaret?'

Marianne now interjected, ‘If her motive was pure, I would say it is kind of Fanny, but since I have never known kindness to motivate Fanny, I rather suspect she must have some object in mind if she wishes the company of any of us! Perhaps she wishes Margaret to bring up some of the plate she has always had her eye upon!'

Elinor could not but help smile, and yet she tried for a reproving tone. ‘That is ungenerous of you, Marianne, and you know it. But Mama, could you spare Margaret? You would only have Thomas and Hannah help you, and I cannot come to Barton every day, for I am busy with parish duties and the children.'

Mrs Dashwood, however, was as insistent as she had been earlier. ‘Nonsense, for with Margaret gone away, Thomas and Hannah will have their workload halved, and we can all help each other with making bread and looking after the garden. I dare say I will be much of the time at Barton Park in any case, for Sir John never allows us to be alone for long before we are all dining together again at the park. It would, I confess, give me the greatest happiness to think of Margaret at Norland, and if they take her to town with them, she will have a real season! She might even find herself a husband!'

‘Oh Mama,' cried Margaret blushing, ‘you know that I don't think of husbands yet—but I confess that to have the enjoyment of new society would be more than I had ever hoped!'

Mrs Dashwood was now in quite a happy fluster. ‘You should have the society of Fanny and John and be introduced to many new people, I should think. The only trouble with the scheme is getting new gowns made up fast enough! You had best,' she added happily to Margaret, ‘have whatever I can manage to get for you here, so that you have something to go on with. I have a little saved, quite enough for two new gowns, and you must have a new bonnet. And you must have some new shoes, my darling! Your others are quite stained!'

‘That is because she insists on walking in the mud!' said Elinor in some amusement. ‘If you do go to Norland, Meg, I am persuaded that Fanny will make a lady of you, yet!'

‘I can act a lady sometimes , Elinor!' said Margaret, feigning offence, at which her sister laughed.

‘That I shall have to see to believe it!'

Now the Colonel, who had been listening attentively, immediately offered up his carriage to carry Margaret to Norland, which offer was accepted with alacrity by Mrs Dashwood. Elinor, who had been put at ease by her mother as to the wisdom of the scheme, was in agreement, but Marianne, who had contributed little, now only remarked again, ‘I still don't see what Fanny's object is, and I do suspect there is some scheme, for it is not her nature to be so generous, unless she hopes to benefit by it.'

Margaret was now in some anxiety of being denied. ‘Why does Fanny have to have some terrible object in inviting me?' demanded she. ‘Perhaps she has come to regret her selfish ways? Besides, I would not for the world wish to offend John, and surely the invitation must have come from him, too!'

Mrs Dashwood decided the matter by bringing out the letter again and passing it around. It was then agreed by all the party that the letter was everything gracious and condescending that it ought to be.

The Colonel was asked for his own opinion, and after some moments, he said, ‘It is certainly an opportunity for Margaret, and being in company with the Dashwoods, and the circles that family moves in, will not bring anything discrediting to Margaret. She will be travelling in my own carriage, and if there is any difficulty, Margaret, you have only to write at once and I will send the carriage to collect you, wherever you are, to fetch you home when you are ready. You are a good, sensible girl, and I see no harm in giving you a few weeks rest from all your hard work here.'

This approbation was just what was wanted to set the hearts of her friends at ease, and presently Margaret gave way to the natural excitement which such an invitation would inspire in a girl of eighteen, who had never left the county she was born in, and yearned to know more of the world at large!

Mrs Dashwood determined to reply to Fanny's letter the very next day, and to fix the day of her daughter's arrival at Norland as five days from now, just before her own removal back to Barton. As for Margaret, she went to her chamber that night full of gratitude, excitement and joy, and spent some hours pouring over one of the Colonel's library books which talked of the sights of London, to prepare herself for her adventure into the world!