August 7, 2025 • 15 mins
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter fifteen. Missus Dashwood's visit to Lady Middleton took place
the next day, and two of her daughters went with her,
but mary Anne excused herself from being of the party
under some trifling pretext of employment, and her mother, who
concluded that a promise had been made by Willoughby the
(00:20):
night before of calling on her while they were absent,
was perfectly satisfied with her remaining at home. On their
return from the park, they found Willoughby's curricle and servant
in waiting at the cottage, and Missus Dashwood was convinced
that her conjecture had been just so far it was
(00:40):
all as she had foreseen. But on entering the house
she beheld what no foresight had taught her to expect.
They were no sooner in the passage than mary Anne
came hastily out of the parlor, apparently in violent affliction,
with her handkerchief at her eyes, and without noticing them,
ran upstairs. Surprised and alarmed, they proceeded directly into the
(01:04):
room she had just quitted, where they found only Willoughby,
who was leaning against the mantelpiece with his back towards them.
He turned round on their coming in, and his countenance
showed that he strongly partook of the emotion which overpowered Marianne.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Is anything the matter with her?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Cried Missus Dashwood as she entered.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Is she ill?
Speaker 1 (01:28):
I hope not, he replied, trying to look cheerful, and
with a forced smile, presently added.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
It is I whom I rather expect to be ill,
for I am now suffering under a very heavy disappointment. Disappointment, yes,
for I am unable to keep my engagement with you.
Missus Smith has this morning exercised a privilege of riches
upon a poor dependent cousin by sending me on business
(01:56):
to London. I have just received my dispatches and taking
my farewell of Olham, and by way of exhilaration, I
am now come to take my farewell of view.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
To London, and you are going this morning, almost this moment.
This is very unfortunate, but Missus Smith must be obliged
and her business will not detain you from us long,
I hope, he colored, as he replied, You.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Are very kind, but I have no idea of returning
into Devonshire immediately. Missus Smith are never repeated within the twelvemonth.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
And is missus Smith, your only friend is ellen Ham,
the only house in the neighborhood to which you will
be welcome. For shame, will Ob can you wait for
an invitation here?
Speaker 1 (02:42):
His color increased, and with his eyes fixed on the ground,
he only.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Replied, you are too good.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Missus Dashwood looked at Eleanor with surprise. Eleanor felt equal amazement.
For a few moments, everyone was silent. Missus dash Would first.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Spoke, I have only to add, my dear Willoughby, that
at Burton Cottage you will always be welcome, for I
will not press you to return here immediately, because you
only can judge how far that might be pleasing to
Missus Smith. And on this head I shall be no
more disposed to question your judgment than to doubt your inclination.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
My engagements at present, replied Willoughby, confusedly, are of such
a nature that I dare not flatter myself.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
He stopped. Missus Dashwood was too much astonished to speak,
and another pause succeeded. This was broken by Willoughby, who said,
with a faint smile.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
It is folly to linger in this manner. I will
not torment myself any longer by remaining among friends whose
society it is impossible for me now to enjoy.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
He then hastily took lee of them all and left
the room. They saw him step into his carriage, and
in a minute it was out of sight. Missus Dashwood
felt too much for speech, and instantly quitted the parlor
to give way in solitude to the concern and alarm
which this sudden departure occasioned. Eleanor's uneasiness was at least
(04:22):
equal to her mother's. She thought of what had passed
with anxiety and distrust, Willoughby's behavior in taking leave of them,
his embarrassment and affectation of cheerfulness, and above all his
unwillingness to accept her mother's invitation. A backwardness so unlike
(04:43):
a lover, so unlike himself, greatly disturbed her. One moment
she feared that no serious design had ever been formed
on his side, and the next that some unfortunate quarrel
had taken place between him, him and her sister. The
distress in which Marianne had quitted the room was such
(05:05):
as a serious quarrel could most reasonably account for, Though,
when she considered what Marianne's love for him, was a
quarrel seemed almost impossible. But whatever might be the particulars
of their separation, her sister's affliction was indubitable. And she
thought with the tenderest compassion of that violent sorrow which
(05:28):
Marianne was in all probability, not merely giving way to
as a relief, but feeding and encouraging as a duty.
In about half an hour her mother returned, and though
her eyes were red, her countenance was not uncheerful.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Our dear Willoughby is now some miles from Barton Elinor.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Said she, as she sat down to work.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
And with how heavy a heart does he travel?
Speaker 5 (05:56):
It is all very strange, so suddenly to be gone, it,
it seems, but the work of a moment. And last
night he was with us, so happy, so cheerful, so affectionate,
And now, after only ten minutes notice, gone too, without
intending to return. Something more than what he owned to
us must have happened. He did not speak, he did
not behave like himself. You must have seen the difference
(06:18):
as well as I.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
What can it be?
Speaker 5 (06:20):
Can I have quarreled? Why else should he have shown
such unwillingness to accept your invitation here?
Speaker 4 (06:25):
It was not inclination that he wanted, Eleanor, I could
plainly see that he had not the power of accepting it.
I have thought it all over, I assure you, and
I can perfectly account for everything that at first seems
strange to me as.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Well as to you. Can you.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Indeed, yes, I have explained it to myself in the
most satisfactory way. But you, Eleanor, who loved to doubt
where you can it will not satisfy you, I know,
but you shall not talk me out of my trust
in it. I am persuaded that missus Smith suspects his
regard for mary Anne, disapproves of it, perhaps because she
(07:05):
has other views for him, and on that account, is
eager to get him away, and that the business which
she sends him off to transact is invented as an
excuse to dismiss him. This is what I believe to
have happened. He is, moreover, aware that she does disapprove
the connection. He dares not, therefore at present confess to
(07:27):
her his engagement with mary Anne, and he feels himself
obliged from his dependent situation to give in to her
schemes and absent himself from Devonshire for a while you
will tell me I know that this may or may
not have happened, but I will listen to no cavil
unless you can point out any other method of understanding
(07:47):
the affair as satisfactory as this. And now, eleanor what
have you to say?
Speaker 5 (07:54):
Nothing? For you have an dissipated my ansel.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Then you would have told me that it might or
might not have had happened, Oh, Eleanor how incomprehensible are
your feelings? You had rather take evil upon credit than good.
You had rather look out for misery for Marianne and
guilt for poor Willoughby than an apology for the latter.
You are resolved to think him blameable because he took
(08:19):
leave of us with less affection than his usual behavior
has shown.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
And is no.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Allowance to be made for inadvertence or for spirits depressed
by recent disappointment. Are no probabilities to be accepted merely
because they are not certainties? Is nothing due to the
man to whom we have all such reason to love,
and no reason in the world to think ill of
to the possibility of motives unanswerable in themselves, though unavoidably
(08:48):
secret for a while, and after all, what is it
you suspect him of?
Speaker 5 (08:53):
I can hardly tell myself, But suspicion of something unpleasant
is the inevitable consequence of such an alteration as we
just witnessed in him. There is great truth, however, in
what you have now urged of the allowances which ought
to be made for him, And it is my wish
to be candid in my judgment of everybody. Willoughby may
undoubtedly have very sufficient reasons for his conduct, and I
(09:14):
will hope that he has, but it would have been
more like Willoughby to acknowledge them at once. Secrecy may
be advisable, but still I cannot help wondering if it's
being practiced by him.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Do not blame him, however, for departing from his character
where the deviation is necessary. But you really do admit
the justice of what I have said in his defense.
I am happy and he is acquitted.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Not entirely. It may be proper to conceal their engagement
if they are engaged from missus Smith, and if that
is the case, it must be highly expedient for Willoughby
to be but little in Devonshire at present. But this
is no excuse for their concealing it from.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Us, concealing it from us, My dear child, do you
accuse Willoughby and mary Anne of concealment? This is strange, indeed,
when your eyes have been reproaching them every day for incautiousness.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
I want no proof of their affection, said Eleanor, But
of their engagement I do.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I am perfectly satisfied of both.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Yet not a syllable has been said to you on
the subject by other of them.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
I have not wanted syllables where actions have spoken so plainly.
Has not his behavior to Marianne and to all of us,
for at least the last fortnight, declared that he loved
and considered her as his future wife, and that he
felt for us the attachment of the nearest relation. Have
we not perfectly understood each other? Has not my consent
(10:37):
been daily asked by his looks, his manner, his attentive
and affectionate respect, my Eleanor, Is it possible to doubt
their engagement? How could such a thought occur to you?
How is it to be supposed that Willoughby, persuaded as
he must be of your sister's love, should leave her,
and leave her, perhaps for months without telling her of
(11:00):
his affection that they should part without a mutual exchange
of confidence.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I confess, replied Eleanor, that every.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Circumstance except one is in favor of their engagement. But
that one is the total silence of both on the subject,
and with me, it almost outweighs every other.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
How strange this is, you must think wretchedly indeed of Willoughby,
if after all that has openly passed between them, you
can doubt the nature of the terms on which they
are together. Has he been acting a part in his
behavior to your sister all this time? Do you suppose
him really indifferent to her?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
No?
Speaker 5 (11:37):
I cannot think that he must and does love her,
I'm sure, but.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
With a strange kind of tenderness. If he can leave
her with such indifference, such carelessness of the future, as
you attribute to.
Speaker 5 (11:49):
Him, you must remember, my dear mother, that I have
never considered this matter as certain. I have had my doubts,
I confess, but they are fainter than they were, and
they may soon be entirely done away. If we find
that correspond, every fear of mine will be removed.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
A mighty concession. Indeed, if you were to see them
at the altar. You would suppose that they were going
to be married ungracious girl. But I require no such proof. Nothing,
in my opinion, has ever passed to justify doubt. No
secrecy has been attempted. All has been uniformly open and unreserved.
(12:25):
You cannot doubt your sister's wishes. It must be Willoughby
there for whom you suspect. But why is he not
a man of honor and feeling? Has there been any
inconsistency on his side to create alarm? Can he be deceitful?
Speaker 5 (12:41):
I hope not.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
I believe not, cried Eleanor.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
I love Willoughby, sincerely love him, and suspicion of his
integrity cannot be more painful to yourself than to me.
It has been involuntary, and I will not encourage it.
I was startled, I confess, by the alteration in his
manners this morning. He did not speak like him and
did not return your kindness with any cordiality. But all
of this may be explained by such a situation of
(13:06):
his affairs, as you have supposed. He had just parted
from my sister, had seen her leave him in the
greatest affliction, and if he felt obliged from a fear
of offending Missus Smith, to resist the temptation of returning
here soon, and yet aware that by declining your invitation,
by saying that he was going away for some time,
he should seem to act none generous a suspicious part
(13:26):
by our family. He might well be embarrassed and disturbed.
In such a case, a plain and open avowal of
his difficulties would have been more to his honor, I think,
as well as more consistent with his general character. But
I will not raise objections against any one's conduct on
so illiberal a foundation as a difference in judgment from myself,
or a deviation from what I may think right and consistent.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
You speak very priperally. Willoughby certainly does not deserve to
be suspected. Though we have not known him long. He
is no stranger in this part of the world, and
who has ever spoken to his disadvantage. Had he been
in a situation to act independently and marry immediately, it
might have been odd that he should leave us without
(14:08):
acknowledging everything to me at once.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
But this is not the case.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
It is an engagement in some respects not prosperously begun,
for their marriage must be at a very uncertain distance,
and even secrecy, as far as it can be observed,
may now be very advisable.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
They were interrupted by the entrance of Margaret and Eleanor
was then at liberty to think over the representations of
her mother, to acknowledge the probability of many, and hope
for the justice of all. They saw nothing of Marianne
till dinner time, when she entered the room and took
her place at the table without saying a word. Her
(14:48):
eyes were red and swollen, and it seemed as if
her tears were even then restrained with difficulty. She avoided
the looks of them. All could neither eat nor speak,
and after some time, on her mother's silently pressing her
hand with tender compassion, her small degree of fortitude was
(15:08):
quite overcome. She burst into tears and left the room.
This violent oppression of spirits continued the whole evening. She
was without any power, because she was without any desire
of command over herself. The slightest mention of anything relative
to Willoughby overpowered her in an instant, and though her
(15:31):
family were most anxiously attentive to her comfort, it was
impossible for them, if they spoke at all, to keep
clear of every subject which her feelings connected with him.
End of Chapter fifteen,
Chapter fifteen. Missus Dashwood's visit to Lady Middleton took place
the next day, and two of her daughters went with her,
but mary Anne excused herself from being of the party
under some trifling pretext of employment, and her mother, who
concluded that a promise had been made by Willoughby the
(00:20):
night before of calling on her while they were absent,
was perfectly satisfied with her remaining at home. On their
return from the park, they found Willoughby's curricle and servant
in waiting at the cottage, and Missus Dashwood was convinced
that her conjecture had been just so far it was
(00:40):
all as she had foreseen. But on entering the house
she beheld what no foresight had taught her to expect.
They were no sooner in the passage than mary Anne
came hastily out of the parlor, apparently in violent affliction,
with her handkerchief at her eyes, and without noticing them,
ran upstairs. Surprised and alarmed, they proceeded directly into the
(01:04):
room she had just quitted, where they found only Willoughby,
who was leaning against the mantelpiece with his back towards them.
He turned round on their coming in, and his countenance
showed that he strongly partook of the emotion which overpowered Marianne.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Is anything the matter with her?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Cried Missus Dashwood as she entered.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Is she ill?
Speaker 1 (01:28):
I hope not, he replied, trying to look cheerful, and
with a forced smile, presently added.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
It is I whom I rather expect to be ill,
for I am now suffering under a very heavy disappointment. Disappointment, yes,
for I am unable to keep my engagement with you.
Missus Smith has this morning exercised a privilege of riches
upon a poor dependent cousin by sending me on business
(01:56):
to London. I have just received my dispatches and taking
my farewell of Olham, and by way of exhilaration, I
am now come to take my farewell of view.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
To London, and you are going this morning, almost this moment.
This is very unfortunate, but Missus Smith must be obliged
and her business will not detain you from us long,
I hope, he colored, as he replied, You.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Are very kind, but I have no idea of returning
into Devonshire immediately. Missus Smith are never repeated within the twelvemonth.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
And is missus Smith, your only friend is ellen Ham,
the only house in the neighborhood to which you will
be welcome. For shame, will Ob can you wait for
an invitation here?
Speaker 1 (02:42):
His color increased, and with his eyes fixed on the ground,
he only.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Replied, you are too good.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Missus Dashwood looked at Eleanor with surprise. Eleanor felt equal amazement.
For a few moments, everyone was silent. Missus dash Would first.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Spoke, I have only to add, my dear Willoughby, that
at Burton Cottage you will always be welcome, for I
will not press you to return here immediately, because you
only can judge how far that might be pleasing to
Missus Smith. And on this head I shall be no
more disposed to question your judgment than to doubt your inclination.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
My engagements at present, replied Willoughby, confusedly, are of such
a nature that I dare not flatter myself.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
He stopped. Missus Dashwood was too much astonished to speak,
and another pause succeeded. This was broken by Willoughby, who said,
with a faint smile.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
It is folly to linger in this manner. I will
not torment myself any longer by remaining among friends whose
society it is impossible for me now to enjoy.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
He then hastily took lee of them all and left
the room. They saw him step into his carriage, and
in a minute it was out of sight. Missus Dashwood
felt too much for speech, and instantly quitted the parlor
to give way in solitude to the concern and alarm
which this sudden departure occasioned. Eleanor's uneasiness was at least
(04:22):
equal to her mother's. She thought of what had passed
with anxiety and distrust, Willoughby's behavior in taking leave of them,
his embarrassment and affectation of cheerfulness, and above all his
unwillingness to accept her mother's invitation. A backwardness so unlike
(04:43):
a lover, so unlike himself, greatly disturbed her. One moment
she feared that no serious design had ever been formed
on his side, and the next that some unfortunate quarrel
had taken place between him, him and her sister. The
distress in which Marianne had quitted the room was such
(05:05):
as a serious quarrel could most reasonably account for, Though,
when she considered what Marianne's love for him, was a
quarrel seemed almost impossible. But whatever might be the particulars
of their separation, her sister's affliction was indubitable. And she
thought with the tenderest compassion of that violent sorrow which
(05:28):
Marianne was in all probability, not merely giving way to
as a relief, but feeding and encouraging as a duty.
In about half an hour her mother returned, and though
her eyes were red, her countenance was not uncheerful.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Our dear Willoughby is now some miles from Barton Elinor.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Said she, as she sat down to work.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
And with how heavy a heart does he travel?
Speaker 5 (05:56):
It is all very strange, so suddenly to be gone, it,
it seems, but the work of a moment. And last
night he was with us, so happy, so cheerful, so affectionate,
And now, after only ten minutes notice, gone too, without
intending to return. Something more than what he owned to
us must have happened. He did not speak, he did
not behave like himself. You must have seen the difference
(06:18):
as well as I.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
What can it be?
Speaker 5 (06:20):
Can I have quarreled? Why else should he have shown
such unwillingness to accept your invitation here?
Speaker 4 (06:25):
It was not inclination that he wanted, Eleanor, I could
plainly see that he had not the power of accepting it.
I have thought it all over, I assure you, and
I can perfectly account for everything that at first seems
strange to me as.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Well as to you. Can you.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Indeed, yes, I have explained it to myself in the
most satisfactory way. But you, Eleanor, who loved to doubt
where you can it will not satisfy you, I know,
but you shall not talk me out of my trust
in it. I am persuaded that missus Smith suspects his
regard for mary Anne, disapproves of it, perhaps because she
(07:05):
has other views for him, and on that account, is
eager to get him away, and that the business which
she sends him off to transact is invented as an
excuse to dismiss him. This is what I believe to
have happened. He is, moreover, aware that she does disapprove
the connection. He dares not, therefore at present confess to
(07:27):
her his engagement with mary Anne, and he feels himself
obliged from his dependent situation to give in to her
schemes and absent himself from Devonshire for a while you
will tell me I know that this may or may
not have happened, but I will listen to no cavil
unless you can point out any other method of understanding
(07:47):
the affair as satisfactory as this. And now, eleanor what
have you to say?
Speaker 5 (07:54):
Nothing? For you have an dissipated my ansel.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Then you would have told me that it might or
might not have had happened, Oh, Eleanor how incomprehensible are
your feelings? You had rather take evil upon credit than good.
You had rather look out for misery for Marianne and
guilt for poor Willoughby than an apology for the latter.
You are resolved to think him blameable because he took
(08:19):
leave of us with less affection than his usual behavior
has shown.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
And is no.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Allowance to be made for inadvertence or for spirits depressed
by recent disappointment. Are no probabilities to be accepted merely
because they are not certainties? Is nothing due to the
man to whom we have all such reason to love,
and no reason in the world to think ill of
to the possibility of motives unanswerable in themselves, though unavoidably
(08:48):
secret for a while, and after all, what is it
you suspect him of?
Speaker 5 (08:53):
I can hardly tell myself, But suspicion of something unpleasant
is the inevitable consequence of such an alteration as we
just witnessed in him. There is great truth, however, in
what you have now urged of the allowances which ought
to be made for him, And it is my wish
to be candid in my judgment of everybody. Willoughby may
undoubtedly have very sufficient reasons for his conduct, and I
(09:14):
will hope that he has, but it would have been
more like Willoughby to acknowledge them at once. Secrecy may
be advisable, but still I cannot help wondering if it's
being practiced by him.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Do not blame him, however, for departing from his character
where the deviation is necessary. But you really do admit
the justice of what I have said in his defense.
I am happy and he is acquitted.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Not entirely. It may be proper to conceal their engagement
if they are engaged from missus Smith, and if that
is the case, it must be highly expedient for Willoughby
to be but little in Devonshire at present. But this
is no excuse for their concealing it from.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Us, concealing it from us, My dear child, do you
accuse Willoughby and mary Anne of concealment? This is strange, indeed,
when your eyes have been reproaching them every day for incautiousness.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
I want no proof of their affection, said Eleanor, But
of their engagement I do.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I am perfectly satisfied of both.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Yet not a syllable has been said to you on
the subject by other of them.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
I have not wanted syllables where actions have spoken so plainly.
Has not his behavior to Marianne and to all of us,
for at least the last fortnight, declared that he loved
and considered her as his future wife, and that he
felt for us the attachment of the nearest relation. Have
we not perfectly understood each other? Has not my consent
(10:37):
been daily asked by his looks, his manner, his attentive
and affectionate respect, my Eleanor, Is it possible to doubt
their engagement? How could such a thought occur to you?
How is it to be supposed that Willoughby, persuaded as
he must be of your sister's love, should leave her,
and leave her, perhaps for months without telling her of
(11:00):
his affection that they should part without a mutual exchange
of confidence.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I confess, replied Eleanor, that every.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Circumstance except one is in favor of their engagement. But
that one is the total silence of both on the subject,
and with me, it almost outweighs every other.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
How strange this is, you must think wretchedly indeed of Willoughby,
if after all that has openly passed between them, you
can doubt the nature of the terms on which they
are together. Has he been acting a part in his
behavior to your sister all this time? Do you suppose
him really indifferent to her?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
No?
Speaker 5 (11:37):
I cannot think that he must and does love her,
I'm sure, but.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
With a strange kind of tenderness. If he can leave
her with such indifference, such carelessness of the future, as
you attribute to.
Speaker 5 (11:49):
Him, you must remember, my dear mother, that I have
never considered this matter as certain. I have had my doubts,
I confess, but they are fainter than they were, and
they may soon be entirely done away. If we find
that correspond, every fear of mine will be removed.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
A mighty concession. Indeed, if you were to see them
at the altar. You would suppose that they were going
to be married ungracious girl. But I require no such proof. Nothing,
in my opinion, has ever passed to justify doubt. No
secrecy has been attempted. All has been uniformly open and unreserved.
(12:25):
You cannot doubt your sister's wishes. It must be Willoughby
there for whom you suspect. But why is he not
a man of honor and feeling? Has there been any
inconsistency on his side to create alarm? Can he be deceitful?
Speaker 5 (12:41):
I hope not.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
I believe not, cried Eleanor.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
I love Willoughby, sincerely love him, and suspicion of his
integrity cannot be more painful to yourself than to me.
It has been involuntary, and I will not encourage it.
I was startled, I confess, by the alteration in his
manners this morning. He did not speak like him and
did not return your kindness with any cordiality. But all
of this may be explained by such a situation of
(13:06):
his affairs, as you have supposed. He had just parted
from my sister, had seen her leave him in the
greatest affliction, and if he felt obliged from a fear
of offending Missus Smith, to resist the temptation of returning
here soon, and yet aware that by declining your invitation,
by saying that he was going away for some time,
he should seem to act none generous a suspicious part
(13:26):
by our family. He might well be embarrassed and disturbed.
In such a case, a plain and open avowal of
his difficulties would have been more to his honor, I think,
as well as more consistent with his general character. But
I will not raise objections against any one's conduct on
so illiberal a foundation as a difference in judgment from myself,
or a deviation from what I may think right and consistent.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
You speak very priperally. Willoughby certainly does not deserve to
be suspected. Though we have not known him long. He
is no stranger in this part of the world, and
who has ever spoken to his disadvantage. Had he been
in a situation to act independently and marry immediately, it
might have been odd that he should leave us without
(14:08):
acknowledging everything to me at once.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
But this is not the case.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
It is an engagement in some respects not prosperously begun,
for their marriage must be at a very uncertain distance,
and even secrecy, as far as it can be observed,
may now be very advisable.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
They were interrupted by the entrance of Margaret and Eleanor
was then at liberty to think over the representations of
her mother, to acknowledge the probability of many, and hope
for the justice of all. They saw nothing of Marianne
till dinner time, when she entered the room and took
her place at the table without saying a word. Her
(14:48):
eyes were red and swollen, and it seemed as if
her tears were even then restrained with difficulty. She avoided
the looks of them. All could neither eat nor speak,
and after some time, on her mother's silently pressing her
hand with tender compassion, her small degree of fortitude was
(15:08):
quite overcome. She burst into tears and left the room.
This violent oppression of spirits continued the whole evening. She
was without any power, because she was without any desire
of command over herself. The slightest mention of anything relative
to Willoughby overpowered her in an instant, and though her
(15:31):
family were most anxiously attentive to her comfort, it was
impossible for them, if they spoke at all, to keep
clear of every subject which her feelings connected with him.
End of Chapter fifteen,
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