August 15, 2025 • 9 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Volume two, Chapter four. Human nature is so well disposed
towards those who are in interesting situations that a young
person who either marries or dies is sure of being
kindly spoken of. A week had not passed since miss
Hawkins's name was first mentioned in Highbury, before she was,
by some means or other, discovered to have every recommendation
(00:23):
of person and mind, to be handsome, elegant, highly accomplished,
and perfectly amiable. And when mister Elton himself arrived to
triumph in his happy prospects and circulate the fame of
her merits, there was very little more for him to
do than to tell her Christian name and say whose
music she principally played. Mister Elton returned a very happy man.
(00:45):
He had gone away rejected and mortified, disappointed, in a
very sanguine hope. After a series of what appeared to
him strong encouragement, and not only losing the right lady,
but finding himself debased to the level of a very
wrong one. He had gone away deeply offended. He came
back engaged to another, and to another as superior, of
(01:06):
course to the first. As under such circumstances, what is
gained always is to what is lost. He came back,
gay and self satisfied, eager and busy, caring nothing for
Miss Woodhouse, and defying Miss Smith. The charming Augusta Hawkins,
in addition to all the usual advantages of perfect beauty
and merit, was in possession of an independent fortune of
(01:29):
so many thousands, as would be always called ten, a
point of some dignity as well as some convenience. The
story told well, he had not thrown himself away. He
had gained a woman of ten thousand pounds or thereabouts,
and he had gained her with such delightful rapidity. The
first hour of introduction had been so very soon followed
by distinguishing notice. The history which he had to give
(01:51):
Missus Cole of the rise and progress of the affair
was so glorious, the steps so quick, from the accidental
one contra to the dinner at mister Green's, and the party,
Missus Brown's smiles and blushes rising in importance, with consciousness
and agitation richly scattered. The lady had been so easily impressed,
so sweetly disposed, had, in short, to use a most
(02:13):
intelligible phrase, been so very ready to have him that
vanity and prudence were equally contented. He had caught both
substance and shadow, both fortune and affection, and was just
the happy man he ought to be, talking only of
himself and his own concerns, expecting to be congratulated, ready
(02:33):
to be laughed at, and with cordial, fearless smiles, now
addressing all the young ladies of the place, to whom
a few weeks ago he would have been more cautiously gallant.
The wedding was no distant event, as the parties had
only themselves to please, and nothing but the necessary preparations
to wait for. And when he set out for Bath again,
there was a general expectation which a certain glance of
(02:56):
missus Cole's did not seem to contradict, that when he
next entered Highbury he would bring his bride. During his
present short stay, Emma had barely seen him, but just
enough to feel that the first meeting was over, and
to give her the impression of his not being improved
by the mixture of pique and pretension now spread over
his air. She was in fact beginning very much to
(03:17):
wonder that she had ever thought him pleasing at all,
and his sight was so inseparably connected with some very
disagreeable feelings that, except in a moral light, as a penance,
a lesson, a source of profitable humiliation to her own mind,
she would have been thankful to be short of never
seeing him again. She wished him very well, but he
gave her pain, and his welfare twenty miles off would
(03:39):
administer most satisfaction. The pain of his continued residence in Highbury, however,
must certainly be lessened by his marriage. Many vain solicitudes
would be prevented, many awkwardnesses smoothed by it. A missus
Elton would be an excuse for any change of intercourse.
Former intimacy might sink without remark. It would be almost
(04:00):
beginning their life of civility again. Of the lady individually,
Emma thought very little. She was good enough for mister Elton,
no doubt, accomplished enough for Highbury, handsome enough to look
plain probably by Harriet's side. As to connection there, Emma
was perfectly easy persuaded that, after all his own vaunted
(04:20):
claims and disdain of Harriet, he had done nothing on
that article. Truth seemed attainable. What she was must be uncertain,
but who she was might be found out, and setting
aside the twenty thousand pounds, it did not appear that
she was at all Harriet's superior. She brought no name,
no blood, no alliance. Miss Hawkins was the youngest of
(04:42):
the two daughters of a Bristol merchant. Of course he
must be called. But as the whole of the prophets
of his mercantile life appeared so very moderate, it was
not unfair to guess the dignity of his line of
trade had been a very moderate. Also, part of every
winter she had been used to spend in Bath. But
Bristol was her home, the very heart of Bristol. For
though the father and mother had died some years ago,
(05:04):
an uncle remained in the law line. Nothing more distinctly
honorable was hazarded of him than that he was in
the law line, and with them the daughter had lived.
Emma guessed him to be the drudge of some attorney,
and too stupid to rise. And all the grandeur of
the connection seemed dependent on the elder sister, who was
very well married to a gentleman in a great way
(05:28):
near Bristol, who kept two carriages. That was the wind
up of the history. That was the glory of miss Hawkins,
could she but have given Harriet her feelings about it?
All she had talked her into love, but alas she
was not so easily to be talked out of it.
The charm of an object to accompany the many vacancies
(05:48):
of Harriet's mind was not to be talked away. He
might be superseded by another. He certainly would. Indeed nothing
could be clearer. Even a Robert Martin would have been sufficient.
But nothing else, she feared would cure her. Harriet was
one of those who, having once begun, would be always
in love. And now, poor girl, she was considerably worse
(06:10):
from this reappearance of mister Elton. She was always having
a glimpse of him somewhere or other. Emma saw him
only once, but two or three times every day. Harriet
was sure just to meet with him or just to
miss him, just to hear his voice or see his shoulder,
just to have something occur to preserve him in her fancy.
In all the favoring warmth of surprise and conjecture, she
(06:31):
was moreover perpetually hearing about him. For excepting when at Hartfield,
she was always among those who saw no fault in
mister Elton, and found nothing so interesting as the discussion
of his concerns, and every report, therefore, every guess, all
that had already occurred, all that might occur in the
arrangement of his affairs, comprehending income, servants, and furniture, was
(06:54):
continually in agitation around her. Her regard was receiving strength
by invariable praise of him, and her regrets kept alive
and feelings irritated by ceaseless repetitions of Miss Hawkins's happiness
and continual observation of how much he seemed attached his
air as he walked by the house, the very sitting
of his hat being all in proof of how much
(07:15):
he was in love. Had it been allowable entertainment, had
there been no pain to her friend or reproach to herself.
In the waverings of Harriet's mind, Emma would have been
amused by its variations. Sometimes mister Elton predominated, sometimes the Martins,
and each was occasionally useful as a check to the other.
Mister Elton's engagement had been the cure of the agitation
(07:37):
of meeting mister Martin. The unhappiness produced by the knowledge
of that engagement had been a little put aside by
Elizabeth Martin's calling at Missus Goddard's a few days afterwards.
Harriet had not been at home, but a note had
been prepared and left for her, written in the very
style to touch a small mixture of reproach with a
great deal of kindness, and till mister Elton himself appeared.
(07:58):
She'd be much occupied by it, continually pondering over what
could be done in return, and wishing to do more
than she dared to confess. But mister Elton in person
had driven away all such cares while he stayed, the
Martins were forgotten, and on the very morning of his
setting off for bath again, Emma, to dissipate some of
the distress it occasioned, judged it best for her to
(08:20):
return Elizabeth Martin's visit. How that visit was to be acknowledged,
what would be necessary and what might be safest had
been a point of some doubtful consideration. Absolute neglect of
the mother and sisters when invited to come would be
in gratitude, it must not be, and yet the danger
of a renewal of the acquaintance. After much thinking, she
(08:42):
could determine on nothing better than Harriet's returning the visit,
but in a way that, if they had understanding, should
convince them that it was only to be a formal acquaintance.
She meant to take her in the carriage, leave her
at the abbey mill while she drove a little further,
and call for her again, so soon as to allow
no time for insidious applications or dangerous recurrences to the past,
(09:04):
and give the most decided proof of what degree of
intimacy was chosen for the future. She could think of
nothing better, And though there was something in it which
her own heart could not approve, something of ingratitude merely
glossed over. It must be done, or what would become
of Harriet. End of chapter four
Volume two, Chapter four. Human nature is so well disposed
towards those who are in interesting situations that a young
person who either marries or dies is sure of being
kindly spoken of. A week had not passed since miss
Hawkins's name was first mentioned in Highbury, before she was,
by some means or other, discovered to have every recommendation
(00:23):
of person and mind, to be handsome, elegant, highly accomplished,
and perfectly amiable. And when mister Elton himself arrived to
triumph in his happy prospects and circulate the fame of
her merits, there was very little more for him to
do than to tell her Christian name and say whose
music she principally played. Mister Elton returned a very happy man.
(00:45):
He had gone away rejected and mortified, disappointed, in a
very sanguine hope. After a series of what appeared to
him strong encouragement, and not only losing the right lady,
but finding himself debased to the level of a very
wrong one. He had gone away deeply offended. He came
back engaged to another, and to another as superior, of
(01:06):
course to the first. As under such circumstances, what is
gained always is to what is lost. He came back,
gay and self satisfied, eager and busy, caring nothing for
Miss Woodhouse, and defying Miss Smith. The charming Augusta Hawkins,
in addition to all the usual advantages of perfect beauty
and merit, was in possession of an independent fortune of
(01:29):
so many thousands, as would be always called ten, a
point of some dignity as well as some convenience. The
story told well, he had not thrown himself away. He
had gained a woman of ten thousand pounds or thereabouts,
and he had gained her with such delightful rapidity. The
first hour of introduction had been so very soon followed
by distinguishing notice. The history which he had to give
(01:51):
Missus Cole of the rise and progress of the affair
was so glorious, the steps so quick, from the accidental
one contra to the dinner at mister Green's, and the party,
Missus Brown's smiles and blushes rising in importance, with consciousness
and agitation richly scattered. The lady had been so easily impressed,
so sweetly disposed, had, in short, to use a most
(02:13):
intelligible phrase, been so very ready to have him that
vanity and prudence were equally contented. He had caught both
substance and shadow, both fortune and affection, and was just
the happy man he ought to be, talking only of
himself and his own concerns, expecting to be congratulated, ready
(02:33):
to be laughed at, and with cordial, fearless smiles, now
addressing all the young ladies of the place, to whom
a few weeks ago he would have been more cautiously gallant.
The wedding was no distant event, as the parties had
only themselves to please, and nothing but the necessary preparations
to wait for. And when he set out for Bath again,
there was a general expectation which a certain glance of
(02:56):
missus Cole's did not seem to contradict, that when he
next entered Highbury he would bring his bride. During his
present short stay, Emma had barely seen him, but just
enough to feel that the first meeting was over, and
to give her the impression of his not being improved
by the mixture of pique and pretension now spread over
his air. She was in fact beginning very much to
(03:17):
wonder that she had ever thought him pleasing at all,
and his sight was so inseparably connected with some very
disagreeable feelings that, except in a moral light, as a penance,
a lesson, a source of profitable humiliation to her own mind,
she would have been thankful to be short of never
seeing him again. She wished him very well, but he
gave her pain, and his welfare twenty miles off would
(03:39):
administer most satisfaction. The pain of his continued residence in Highbury, however,
must certainly be lessened by his marriage. Many vain solicitudes
would be prevented, many awkwardnesses smoothed by it. A missus
Elton would be an excuse for any change of intercourse.
Former intimacy might sink without remark. It would be almost
(04:00):
beginning their life of civility again. Of the lady individually,
Emma thought very little. She was good enough for mister Elton,
no doubt, accomplished enough for Highbury, handsome enough to look
plain probably by Harriet's side. As to connection there, Emma
was perfectly easy persuaded that, after all his own vaunted
(04:20):
claims and disdain of Harriet, he had done nothing on
that article. Truth seemed attainable. What she was must be uncertain,
but who she was might be found out, and setting
aside the twenty thousand pounds, it did not appear that
she was at all Harriet's superior. She brought no name,
no blood, no alliance. Miss Hawkins was the youngest of
(04:42):
the two daughters of a Bristol merchant. Of course he
must be called. But as the whole of the prophets
of his mercantile life appeared so very moderate, it was
not unfair to guess the dignity of his line of
trade had been a very moderate. Also, part of every
winter she had been used to spend in Bath. But
Bristol was her home, the very heart of Bristol. For
though the father and mother had died some years ago,
(05:04):
an uncle remained in the law line. Nothing more distinctly
honorable was hazarded of him than that he was in
the law line, and with them the daughter had lived.
Emma guessed him to be the drudge of some attorney,
and too stupid to rise. And all the grandeur of
the connection seemed dependent on the elder sister, who was
very well married to a gentleman in a great way
(05:28):
near Bristol, who kept two carriages. That was the wind
up of the history. That was the glory of miss Hawkins,
could she but have given Harriet her feelings about it?
All she had talked her into love, but alas she
was not so easily to be talked out of it.
The charm of an object to accompany the many vacancies
(05:48):
of Harriet's mind was not to be talked away. He
might be superseded by another. He certainly would. Indeed nothing
could be clearer. Even a Robert Martin would have been sufficient.
But nothing else, she feared would cure her. Harriet was
one of those who, having once begun, would be always
in love. And now, poor girl, she was considerably worse
(06:10):
from this reappearance of mister Elton. She was always having
a glimpse of him somewhere or other. Emma saw him
only once, but two or three times every day. Harriet
was sure just to meet with him or just to
miss him, just to hear his voice or see his shoulder,
just to have something occur to preserve him in her fancy.
In all the favoring warmth of surprise and conjecture, she
(06:31):
was moreover perpetually hearing about him. For excepting when at Hartfield,
she was always among those who saw no fault in
mister Elton, and found nothing so interesting as the discussion
of his concerns, and every report, therefore, every guess, all
that had already occurred, all that might occur in the
arrangement of his affairs, comprehending income, servants, and furniture, was
(06:54):
continually in agitation around her. Her regard was receiving strength
by invariable praise of him, and her regrets kept alive
and feelings irritated by ceaseless repetitions of Miss Hawkins's happiness
and continual observation of how much he seemed attached his
air as he walked by the house, the very sitting
of his hat being all in proof of how much
(07:15):
he was in love. Had it been allowable entertainment, had
there been no pain to her friend or reproach to herself.
In the waverings of Harriet's mind, Emma would have been
amused by its variations. Sometimes mister Elton predominated, sometimes the Martins,
and each was occasionally useful as a check to the other.
Mister Elton's engagement had been the cure of the agitation
(07:37):
of meeting mister Martin. The unhappiness produced by the knowledge
of that engagement had been a little put aside by
Elizabeth Martin's calling at Missus Goddard's a few days afterwards.
Harriet had not been at home, but a note had
been prepared and left for her, written in the very
style to touch a small mixture of reproach with a
great deal of kindness, and till mister Elton himself appeared.
(07:58):
She'd be much occupied by it, continually pondering over what
could be done in return, and wishing to do more
than she dared to confess. But mister Elton in person
had driven away all such cares while he stayed, the
Martins were forgotten, and on the very morning of his
setting off for bath again, Emma, to dissipate some of
the distress it occasioned, judged it best for her to
(08:20):
return Elizabeth Martin's visit. How that visit was to be acknowledged,
what would be necessary and what might be safest had
been a point of some doubtful consideration. Absolute neglect of
the mother and sisters when invited to come would be
in gratitude, it must not be, and yet the danger
of a renewal of the acquaintance. After much thinking, she
(08:42):
could determine on nothing better than Harriet's returning the visit,
but in a way that, if they had understanding, should
convince them that it was only to be a formal acquaintance.
She meant to take her in the carriage, leave her
at the abbey mill while she drove a little further,
and call for her again, so soon as to allow
no time for insidious applications or dangerous recurrences to the past,
(09:04):
and give the most decided proof of what degree of
intimacy was chosen for the future. She could think of
nothing better, And though there was something in it which
her own heart could not approve, something of ingratitude merely
glossed over. It must be done, or what would become
of Harriet. End of chapter four
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