by Jane Austen
Chapter 15
Sir Walter had taken a very good house in Camden Place, a loftydignified situation, such as becomes a man of consequence; and both heand Elizabeth were settled there, much to their satisfaction.
Anne entered it with a sinking heart, anticipating an imprisonment ofmany months, and anxiously saying to herself, "Oh! when shall I leaveyou again?" A degree of unexpected cordiality, however, in the welcomeshe received, did her good. Her father and sister were glad to seeher, for the sake of shewing her the house and furniture, and met herwith kindness. Her making a fourth, when they sat down to dinner, wasnoticed as an advantage.
Mrs Clay was very pleasant, and very smiling, but her courtesies andsmiles were more a matter of course. Anne had always felt that shewould pretend what was proper on her arrival, but the complaisance ofthe others was unlooked for. They were evidently in excellent spirits,and she was soon to listen to the causes. They had no inclination tolisten to her. After laying out for some compliments of being deeplyregretted in their old neighbourhood, which Anne could not pay, theyhad only a few faint enquiries to make, before the talk must be alltheir own. Uppercross excited no interest, Kellynch very little: itwas all Bath.
They had the pleasure of assuring her that Bath more than answeredtheir expectations in every respect. Their house was undoubtedly thebest in Camden Place; their drawing-rooms had many decided advantagesover all the others which they had either seen or heard of, and thesuperiority was not less in the style of the fitting-up, or the tasteof the furniture. Their acquaintance was exceedingly sought after.Everybody was wanting to visit them. They had drawn back from manyintroductions, and still were perpetually having cards left by peopleof whom they knew nothing.
Here were funds of enjoyment. Could Anne wonder that her father andsister were happy? She might not wonder, but she must sigh that herfather should feel no degradation in his change, should see nothing toregret in the duties and dignity of the resident landholder, shouldfind so much to be vain of in the littlenesses of a town; and she mustsigh, and smile, and wonder too, as Elizabeth threw open thefolding-doors and walked with exultation from one drawing-room to theother, boasting of their space; at the possibility of that woman, whohad been mistress of Kellynch Hall, finding extent to be proud ofbetween two walls, perhaps thirty feet asunder.
But this was not all which they had to make them happy. They had MrElliot too. Anne had a great deal to hear of Mr Elliot. He was notonly pardoned, they were delighted with him. He had been in Bath abouta fortnight; (he had passed through Bath in November, in his way toLondon, when the intelligence of Sir Walter's being settled there hadof course reached him, though only twenty-four hours in the place, buthe had not been able to avail himself of it;) but he had now been afortnight in Bath, and his first object on arriving, had been to leavehis card in Camden Place, following it up by such assiduous endeavoursto meet, and when they did meet, by such great openness of conduct,such readiness to apologize for the past, such solicitude to bereceived as a relation again, that their former good understanding wascompletely re-established.
They had not a fault to find in him. He had explained away all theappearance of neglect on his own side. It had originated inmisapprehension entirely. He had never had an idea of throwing himselfoff; he had feared that he was thrown off, but knew not why, anddelicacy had kept him silent. Upon the hint of having spokendisrespectfully or carelessly of the family and the family honours, hewas quite indignant. He, who had ever boasted of being an Elliot, andwhose feelings, as to connection, were only too strict to suit theunfeudal tone of the present day. He was astonished, indeed, but hischaracter and general conduct must refute it. He could refer SirWalter to all who knew him; and certainly, the pains he had been takingon this, the first opportunity of reconciliation, to be restored to thefooting of a relation and heir-presumptive, was a strong proof of hisopinions on the subject.
The circumstances of his marriage, too, were found to admit of muchextenuation. This was an article not to be entered on by himself; buta very intimate friend of his, a Colonel Wallis, a highly respectableman, perfectly the gentleman, (and not an ill-looking man, Sir Walteradded), who was living in very good style in Marlborough Buildings, andhad, at his own particular request, been admitted to their acquaintancethrough Mr Elliot, had mentioned one or two things relative to themarriage, which made a material difference in the discredit of it.
Colonel Wallis had known Mr Elliot long, had been well acquainted alsowith his wife, had perfectly understood the whole story. She wascertainly not a woman of family, but well educated, accomplished, rich,and excessively in love with his friend. There had been the charm.She had sought him. Without that attraction, not all her money wouldhave tempted Elliot, and Sir Walter was, moreover, assured of herhaving been a very fine woman. Here was a great deal to soften thebusiness. A very fine woman with a large fortune, in love with him!Sir Walter seemed to admit it as complete apology; and though Elizabethcould not see the circumstance in quite so favourable a light, sheallowed it be a great extenuation.
Mr Elliot had called repeatedly, had dined with them once, evidentlydelighted by the distinction of being asked, for they gave no dinnersin general; delighted, in short, by every proof of cousinly notice, andplacing his whole happiness in being on intimate terms in Camden Place.
Anne listened, but without quite understanding it. Allowances, largeallowances, she knew, must be made for the ideas of those who spoke.She heard it all under embellishment. All that sounded extravagant orirrational in the progress of the reconciliation might have no originbut in the language of the relators. Still, however, she had thesensation of there being something more than immediately appeared, inMr Elliot's wishing, after an interval of so many years, to be wellreceived by them. In a worldly view, he had nothing to gain by beingon terms with Sir Walter; nothing to risk by a state of variance. Inall probability he was already the richer of the two, and the Kellynchestate would as surely be his hereafter as the title. A sensible man,and he had looked like a very sensible man, why should it be an objectto him? She could only offer one solution; it was, perhaps, forElizabeth's sake. There might really have been a liking formerly,though convenience and accident had drawn him a different way; and nowthat he could afford to please himself, he might mean to pay hisaddresses to her. Elizabeth was certainly very handsome, withwell-bred, elegant manners, and her character might never have beenpenetrated by Mr Elliot, knowing her but in public, and when very younghimself. How her temper and understanding might bear the investigationof his present keener time of life was another concern and rather afearful one. Most earnestly did she wish that he might not be toonice, or too observant if Elizabeth were his object; and that Elizabethwas disposed to believe herself so, and that her friend Mrs Clay wasencouraging the idea, seemed apparent by a glance or two between them,while Mr Elliot's frequent visits were talked of.
Anne mentioned the glimpses she had had of him at Lyme, but withoutbeing much attended to. "Oh! yes, perhaps, it had been Mr Elliot.They did not know. It might be him, perhaps." They could not listento her description of him. They were describing him themselves; SirWalter especially. He did justice to his very gentlemanlikeappearance, his air of elegance and fashion, his good shaped face, hissensible eye; but, at the same time, "must lament his being very muchunder-hung, a defect which time seemed to have increased; nor could hepretend to say that ten years had not altered almost every feature forthe worse. Mr Elliot appeared to think that he (Sir Walter) waslooking exactly as he had done when they last parted;" but Sir Walterhad "not been able to return the compliment entirely, which hadembarrassed him. He did not mean to complain, however. Mr Elliot wasbetter to look at than most men, and he had no objection to being seenwith him anywhere."
Mr Elliot, and his friends in Marlborough Buildings, were talked of thewhole evening. "Colonel Wallis had been so impatient to be introducedto them! and Mr Elliot so anxious that he should!" and there was a MrsWallis, at pres
ent known only to them by description, as she was indaily expectation of her confinement; but Mr Elliot spoke of her as "amost charming woman, quite worthy of being known in Camden Place," andas soon as she recovered they were to be acquainted. Sir Walterthought much of Mrs Wallis; she was said to be an excessively prettywoman, beautiful. "He longed to see her. He hoped she might make someamends for the many very plain faces he was continually passing in thestreets. The worst of Bath was the number of its plain women. He didnot mean to say that there were no pretty women, but the number of theplain was out of all proportion. He had frequently observed, as hewalked, that one handsome face would be followed by thirty, orfive-and-thirty frights; and once, as he had stood in a shop on BondStreet, he had counted eighty-seven women go by, one after another,without there being a tolerable face among them. It had been a frostymorning, to be sure, a sharp frost, which hardly one woman in athousand could stand the test of. But still, there certainly were adreadful multitude of ugly women in Bath; and as for the men! theywere infinitely worse. Such scarecrows as the streets were full of!It was evident how little the women were used to the sight of anythingtolerable, by the effect which a man of decent appearance produced. Hehad never walked anywhere arm-in-arm with Colonel Wallis (who was afine military figure, though sandy-haired) without observing that everywoman's eye was upon him; every woman's eye was sure to be upon ColonelWallis." Modest Sir Walter! He was not allowed to escape, however.His daughter and Mrs Clay united in hinting that Colonel Wallis'scompanion might have as good a figure as Colonel Wallis, and certainlywas not sandy-haired.
"How is Mary looking?" said Sir Walter, in the height of his goodhumour. "The last time I saw her she had a red nose, but I hope thatmay not happen every day."
"Oh! no, that must have been quite accidental. In general she has beenin very good health and very good looks since Michaelmas."
"If I thought it would not tempt her to go out in sharp winds, and growcoarse, I would send her a new hat and pelisse."
Anne was considering whether she should venture to suggest that a gown,or a cap, would not be liable to any such misuse, when a knock at thedoor suspended everything. "A knock at the door! and so late! It wasten o'clock. Could it be Mr Elliot? They knew he was to dine inLansdown Crescent. It was possible that he might stop in his way hometo ask them how they did. They could think of no one else. Mrs Claydecidedly thought it Mr Elliot's knock." Mrs Clay was right. With allthe state which a butler and foot-boy could give, Mr Elliot was usheredinto the room.
It was the same, the very same man, with no difference but of dress.Anne drew a little back, while the others received his compliments, andher sister his apologies for calling at so unusual an hour, but "hecould not be so near without wishing to know that neither she nor herfriend had taken cold the day before," &c. &c; which was all aspolitely done, and as politely taken, as possible, but her part mustfollow then. Sir Walter talked of his youngest daughter; "Mr Elliotmust give him leave to present him to his youngest daughter" (there wasno occasion for remembering Mary); and Anne, smiling and blushing, verybecomingly shewed to Mr Elliot the pretty features which he had by nomeans forgotten, and instantly saw, with amusement at his little startof surprise, that he had not been at all aware of who she was. Helooked completely astonished, but not more astonished than pleased; hiseyes brightened! and with the most perfect alacrity he welcomed therelationship, alluded to the past, and entreated to be received as anacquaintance already. He was quite as good-looking as he had appearedat Lyme, his countenance improved by speaking, and his manners were soexactly what they ought to be, so polished, so easy, so particularlyagreeable, that she could compare them in excellence to only oneperson's manners. They were not the same, but they were, perhaps,equally good.
He sat down with them, and improved their conversation very much.There could be no doubt of his being a sensible man. Ten minutes wereenough to certify that. His tone, his expressions, his choice ofsubject, his knowing where to stop; it was all the operation of asensible, discerning mind. As soon as he could, he began to talk toher of Lyme, wanting to compare opinions respecting the place, butespecially wanting to speak of the circumstance of their happening tobe guests in the same inn at the same time; to give his own route,understand something of hers, and regret that he should have lost suchan opportunity of paying his respects to her. She gave him a shortaccount of her party and business at Lyme. His regret increased as helistened. He had spent his whole solitary evening in the roomadjoining theirs; had heard voices, mirth continually; thought theymust be a most delightful set of people, longed to be with them, butcertainly without the smallest suspicion of his possessing the shadowof a right to introduce himself. If he had but asked who the partywere! The name of Musgrove would have told him enough. "Well, itwould serve to cure him of an absurd practice of never asking aquestion at an inn, which he had adopted, when quite a young man, onthe principal of its being very ungenteel to be curious.
"The notions of a young man of one or two and twenty," said he, "as towhat is necessary in manners to make him quite the thing, are moreabsurd, I believe, than those of any other set of beings in the world.The folly of the means they often employ is only to be equalled by thefolly of what they have in view."
But he must not be addressing his reflections to Anne alone: he knewit; he was soon diffused again among the others, and it was only atintervals that he could return to Lyme.
His enquiries, however, produced at length an account of the scene shehad been engaged in there, soon after his leaving the place. Havingalluded to "an accident," he must hear the whole. When he questioned,Sir Walter and Elizabeth began to question also, but the difference intheir manner of doing it could not be unfelt. She could only compareMr Elliot to Lady Russell, in the wish of really comprehending what hadpassed, and in the degree of concern for what she must have suffered inwitnessing it.
He staid an hour with them. The elegant little clock on the mantel-piecehad struck "eleven with its silver sounds," and the watchman wasbeginning to be heard at a distance telling the same tale, before MrElliot or any of them seemed to feel that he had been there long.
Anne could not have supposed it possible that her first evening inCamden Place could have passed so well!
