August 12, 2025 • 14 mins
Listen Ad Free https://www.solgoodmedia.com - Listen to hundreds of audiobooks, thousands of short stories, and ambient sounds all ad free! Join us as we unveil a new chapter each day from Austen's celebrated works, including "The Watsons," "Sense and Sensibility," "Pride and Prejudice," "Persuasion," "Northanger Abbey," "Mansfield Park," "Love and Friendship," "Lesley Castle - Dramatic Reading," "Lady Susan," "Jane Austen's Juvenilia," and "Emma." Delight in the charm, romance, and wit that have captivated readers for centuries, expertly narrated for your listening pleasure. Whether you're savoring Austen's prose for the first time or revisiting old favorites, let Daily Jane Austen be your daily escape into the refined world of classic literature. Subscribe now and embark on a daily journey through Austen's timeless tales!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twenty. As the miss Dashwoods entered the drawing room
of the park the next day, at one door, Missus
Palmer came running in at the other, looking as good
humored and merry as before. She took them all most
affectionately by the hand, and expressed great delight in seeing
them again.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I am so glad to see you, said.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
She, seating herself between Eleanor and Mary Anne.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
For it is so bad a day. I was afraid
you might not come, which would be a shocking thing.
As we go away again to morrow. We must go
for the Westons come to us next week. You know.
It was quite a sudden thing our coming at all,
and I knew nothing of it till the carriage was
coming to the door. And then mister Palmer asked me
if I would go with him to Barton. He is
so droll, he never tells me anything. I am so
(00:52):
sorry we cannot stay longer. However, we shall meet again
in town very soon.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I hope they were obliged to put an end to
such an exception. Not to go to town, cried Missus
Palmer with a laugh.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I shall be quite disappointed if you do not. I
could get the nicest house in the world for you,
next door to ours in Hanover Square. You must come. Indeed,
I am sure I shall be very happy to chaperone
you at any time till I am confined. If Missus
Dashwood should not like to go into public.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
They thanked her, but were obliged to resist all her entreaties. Oh,
my love, cried missus Palmer to her husband, who just
then entered the room.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
You must help me to persuade the miss Dashwoods to
go to town this winter.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Her love made no answer, and, after slightly bowing to
the ladies, began complaining of the weather. How horrid all
this is, said he.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Such weather makes everything and everybody disgusting. Doubtless is as
much produced withindoors as without by rain. He makes one
to test all one's acquaintance. What the devil, to said
John mean, by not having a billied room in his house?
How few people know what comfort is? Sir John, is
as stupid as the weather.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
The rest of the company soon dropped in.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
I am afraid, miss Marianne, said, Sir John, you have
not been able to take your usual walk to Allenham today.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Mari Anne looked very grave and said nothing.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Oh, don't be so sly before us, said missus Palmer,
for we know all about it, I assure you, and
I admire your taste very much, for I think he
is extremely handsome. We do not live a great way
from him in the country, you know, not above ten miles,
I dare say.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Much nearer thirty, said her husband.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Ah, well, there is not much difference. I never was
at his house, but they say it is a sweet,
pretty place, as vile.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
A spot as I ever saw in my.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Life, said miss Palmer. Mary Anne remained perfectly silent, though
her countenance betrayed her interest in what was said. Is
it very ugly, continued missus Palmer.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Then it must be some other place that is so pretty.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
I suppose.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
When they were seated in the dining room, Sir John
observed with regret that they were only eight altogether.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
My dear, said he to his lady. It is very
provoking that we should be so few. Why did not
you ask the Gilberts to come to us to day?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Did I not tell you?
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Said John, when you spoke to me about it before,
that it could not be done.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
They dined with us last you and I said John,
said Missus Jennings should.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Not stand upon such ceremony, then you would be.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Very ill bred, cried mister Palmer.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
My love, you contradict everybody.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Said his wife, with her usual laugh.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Do you know that you are quite.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
I did not know I contradicted anybody in calling your
mother ill bred.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
Ah, you may abuse me as you.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Please, said the good natured old lady.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
You have taken Charlotte off my hands and cannot give
her back again.
Speaker 5 (04:15):
So there I have the whip hand of you.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Charlotte laughed heartily to think that her husband could not
get rid of her, and exultingly said she did not
care how cross he was to her, as they must
live together. It was impossible for anyone to be more
thoroughly good natured or more determined to be happy than
missus Palmer. The studied indifference, insolence, and discontent of her
(04:42):
husband gave her no pain, and when he scolded or
abused her, she was highly diverted.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Mister Palmer is so troll.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Said she in a whisper to Eleanor.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
He is always out of humor.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Eleanor was not inclined, after a little observation, to give
him credit for being so genuinely and unaffectedly ill natured
or ill bred as he wished to appear. His temper
might perhaps be a little soured by finding, like many
others of his sex, that, through some unaccountable bias in
(05:17):
favor of beauty, he was the husband of a very
silly woman. But she knew that this kind of blunder
was too common for any sensible man to be lastingly
hurt by it. It was rather a wish of distinction,
she believed, which produced his contemptuous treatment of everybody, and
his general abuse of everything before him. It was the
(05:40):
desire of appearing superior to other people. The motive was
too common to be wondered at. But the means, however
they might succeed by establishing his superiority in ill breeding,
were not likely to attach any one to him except
his wife.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Oh, my dear miss Dashwood.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Said missus Palmer soon afterwards.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I've got such a favor to ask of you and
your sister. Will you come and spend some time at
Cleveland this Christmas? Now, pray do and come while the
Westerns are with us. You cannot think how happy I
shall be. It will be quite delightful.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
My love, applying to her husband.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Don't you long to have the miss Dashwoods come to Cleveland?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Certainly, he replied with a sneer.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
They came into Devonshire with no other view there.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Now, said his lady.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
You see, mister Palmer expects you, so you cannot refuse
to come.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
They both eagerly and resolutely declined her invitation.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
But indeed you must and shall come. I am sure
you will like it. Of all things, the Westerns will
be with us, and it will be quite delightful. You
cannot think what a sweet place Cleveland is. And we
are so gay now, for mister Palmer is always going
about the country canvassing against the election, and so many
people come to dine with us that I never saw before.
(07:04):
It is quite charming. But poor fellow, it is very
fatiguing to him, for he is forced to make everybody
like him.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Eleanor could hardly keep her countenance as she assented to
the hardship of such an obligation.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
How charming it will be, said Charlotte when he is
in parliament, won't it? How I shall laugh. It will
be so ridiculous to see all his letters directed to
him with an m P. But do you know, he
says he will never frank for me. He declares he won't,
don't you, mister Palmer.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Mister Palmer took no notice of her. He cannot bear writing,
you know, she continued. He says it is quite shocking, No,
said he.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
I never said anything so illational. Good Palm, or your
abuses of languages upon me.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
There, now you see how droll he is. This is
always the way with him. Sometimes he won't speak to
me for half a day together, and then he comes
out with something so droll, all about anything in the world.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
She surprised Eleanor very much as they returned into the
drawing room by asking her whether she did not like
mister Palmer excessively certainly, said Eleanor.
Speaker 5 (08:20):
He seems very agreeable.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Well, I am so glad you do. I thought you would.
He is so pleasant, and mister Palmer is excessively pleased
with you and your sisters. I can tell you. And
you can't think how disappointed he will be if you
don't come to Cleveland. I can't imagine why you should
object to it.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Eleanor was again obliged to decline her invitation, and, by
changing the subject, put a stop to her entreaties. She
thought it probable that, as they lived in the same county,
Missus Palmer might be able to give some more particular
account of Willoughby's general character than could be gathered from
the Middle's partial acquaintance with him, and she was eager
(09:03):
to gain from any one such a confirmation of his
merits as might remove the possibility of fear from Mary Anne.
She began by inquiring if they saw much of mister
Willoughby at Cleveland, and whether they were intimately acquainted with him.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Oh, dear, yes, I know him extremely.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Well, replied missus Palmer.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Not that I ever spoke to him, indeed, but I
have seen him forever in town somehow or other. I
never happened to be staying in Barton while he was
at Allenham. Mamma saw him here once before, but I
was with my uncle at Weymouth. However, I dare say
we should have seen a great deal of him in
Somersetshire if it had not happened very unluckily that we
(09:46):
should never have been in the country together. He is
very little at Combe, I believe, but if you were
ever so much there, I do not think mister Palmer
would visit him, for he is in the opposition, you know.
And besides it is such a way off. I know
why you inquire about him very well. Your sister is
(10:07):
to marry him. I am monstrous glad of it, for
then I shall have her for a neighbor.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
You know upon my word, replied Eleanor.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
You know much more of the matter than I do.
If you have any reason to expect such a match.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Don't pretend to deny it, because you know it is
what everybody talks of. I assure you I heard of
it in my way through town.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
My dear missus Palmer, upon.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
My honor, I did. I met Colonel Brandon Monday morning
in Bond Street, just before we left town, and he
told me of it directly.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
You surprise me very much, Colonel Brandon tell you of it.
Surely you must be mistaken to give such intelligence to
a person who could not be interested in it, even
if it were true. It's not what I should expect
Colonel Brandon to do.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
But I do assure you it was so for all that,
and I will tell you how it happened. When we
met him, he turned and walked with us, and so
we began talking of my brother and sister, and one
thing and another, And I said to him, So, Colonel,
there is a new family come to Barton Cottage. I hear,
and Mamma sends me word they are very pretty, and
that one of them is going to be married to
(11:15):
mister Willoughby of Combe Magna. Is it true? Pray? For
of course you must know, as you have been in
Devonshire so lately.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
And what did the colonel say?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Oh? He did not say much, but he looked as
if he knew it to be true. So from that
moment I set it down as certain it will be
quite delightful. I declare, when is it to take place?
Speaker 5 (11:37):
Colonel Brandon was very well, I hope.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Oh, yes, quite well, and so full of your praises.
He did nothing but say fine things of you.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
I am flattered by his commendation. He seems an excellent man,
and I think him uncommonly pleasing.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Sue do I? He is such a charming man that
it is quite a pity she should be so grave
and so dull. Mamma says he was in love with
your sister too. I assure you it was a great
compliment if he was, for he hardly ever falls in
love with anybody.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
Is mister Willoughby much knowing in your part of Somersetshire.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Said Eleanor.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Oh, yes, extremely well, Alas, I do not believe many
people are acquainted with him, because Coombe Magna is so
far off, but they all think him extremely agreeable. I
assure you nobody is more liked than mister Willoughby wherever
he goes. And so you may tell your sister she's
a monstrous lucky girl to get him, upon my honor,
(12:33):
not but that he is much more lucky in getting her,
because she is so very handsome and agreeable that nothing
can be good enough for her. However, I don't think
her hardly at all handsomer than you, I assure you,
for I think you both excessively pretty, and so does
mister Palmer too. I am sure that we could not
get him to own it.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Last night, missus Palmer's information respecting Willoughby was not very material,
but any testimony in his favor, however small, was pleasing
to her.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
I am so glad we are got acquainted at.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Last, continued Charlotte.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
And now I hope we shall always be great friends.
You can't think how much I longed to see you.
It is so delightful that you should live at the cottage.
Nothing can be like it, to be sure, and I
am so glad your sister is going to be well married.
I hope you will be a great deal at Combe Magna.
It is a sweet place. By all accounts, you.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Have been long acquainted with Colonel Brandon, have you not?
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yes? A great while ever since my sister married. He
was a particular friend of Sir John's, I believe.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
She added in a low voice.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
He would have been very glad to have had me
if he could. Sir John and Lady Middleton wished it
very much, but Mamma did not think the match good
enough for me. Otherwise Sir John would have mentioned it
to the colonel and we should have been married immediately.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
Did not Colonel Brandon know of Sir John's proposal to
your mother before it was made? Had he never owned
his affection to yourself?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Oh? No, But if Mamma had not objected to it,
I daresay he would have liked it. Of all things,
he had not seen me then above twice, for it
was before I left school. However, how much happier as
I am, mister Palmer is the kind of man I
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Like end of chapter twenty
Chapter twenty. As the miss Dashwoods entered the drawing room
of the park the next day, at one door, Missus
Palmer came running in at the other, looking as good
humored and merry as before. She took them all most
affectionately by the hand, and expressed great delight in seeing
them again.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I am so glad to see you, said.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
She, seating herself between Eleanor and Mary Anne.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
For it is so bad a day. I was afraid
you might not come, which would be a shocking thing.
As we go away again to morrow. We must go
for the Westons come to us next week. You know.
It was quite a sudden thing our coming at all,
and I knew nothing of it till the carriage was
coming to the door. And then mister Palmer asked me
if I would go with him to Barton. He is
so droll, he never tells me anything. I am so
(00:52):
sorry we cannot stay longer. However, we shall meet again
in town very soon.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I hope they were obliged to put an end to
such an exception. Not to go to town, cried Missus
Palmer with a laugh.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I shall be quite disappointed if you do not. I
could get the nicest house in the world for you,
next door to ours in Hanover Square. You must come. Indeed,
I am sure I shall be very happy to chaperone
you at any time till I am confined. If Missus
Dashwood should not like to go into public.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
They thanked her, but were obliged to resist all her entreaties. Oh,
my love, cried missus Palmer to her husband, who just
then entered the room.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
You must help me to persuade the miss Dashwoods to
go to town this winter.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Her love made no answer, and, after slightly bowing to
the ladies, began complaining of the weather. How horrid all
this is, said he.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Such weather makes everything and everybody disgusting. Doubtless is as
much produced withindoors as without by rain. He makes one
to test all one's acquaintance. What the devil, to said
John mean, by not having a billied room in his house?
How few people know what comfort is? Sir John, is
as stupid as the weather.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
The rest of the company soon dropped in.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
I am afraid, miss Marianne, said, Sir John, you have
not been able to take your usual walk to Allenham today.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Mari Anne looked very grave and said nothing.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Oh, don't be so sly before us, said missus Palmer,
for we know all about it, I assure you, and
I admire your taste very much, for I think he
is extremely handsome. We do not live a great way
from him in the country, you know, not above ten miles,
I dare say.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Much nearer thirty, said her husband.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Ah, well, there is not much difference. I never was
at his house, but they say it is a sweet,
pretty place, as vile.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
A spot as I ever saw in my.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Life, said miss Palmer. Mary Anne remained perfectly silent, though
her countenance betrayed her interest in what was said. Is
it very ugly, continued missus Palmer.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Then it must be some other place that is so pretty.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
I suppose.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
When they were seated in the dining room, Sir John
observed with regret that they were only eight altogether.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
My dear, said he to his lady. It is very
provoking that we should be so few. Why did not
you ask the Gilberts to come to us to day?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Did I not tell you?
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Said John, when you spoke to me about it before,
that it could not be done.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
They dined with us last you and I said John,
said Missus Jennings should.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Not stand upon such ceremony, then you would be.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Very ill bred, cried mister Palmer.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
My love, you contradict everybody.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Said his wife, with her usual laugh.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Do you know that you are quite.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
I did not know I contradicted anybody in calling your
mother ill bred.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
Ah, you may abuse me as you.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Please, said the good natured old lady.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
You have taken Charlotte off my hands and cannot give
her back again.
Speaker 5 (04:15):
So there I have the whip hand of you.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Charlotte laughed heartily to think that her husband could not
get rid of her, and exultingly said she did not
care how cross he was to her, as they must
live together. It was impossible for anyone to be more
thoroughly good natured or more determined to be happy than
missus Palmer. The studied indifference, insolence, and discontent of her
(04:42):
husband gave her no pain, and when he scolded or
abused her, she was highly diverted.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Mister Palmer is so troll.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Said she in a whisper to Eleanor.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
He is always out of humor.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Eleanor was not inclined, after a little observation, to give
him credit for being so genuinely and unaffectedly ill natured
or ill bred as he wished to appear. His temper
might perhaps be a little soured by finding, like many
others of his sex, that, through some unaccountable bias in
(05:17):
favor of beauty, he was the husband of a very
silly woman. But she knew that this kind of blunder
was too common for any sensible man to be lastingly
hurt by it. It was rather a wish of distinction,
she believed, which produced his contemptuous treatment of everybody, and
his general abuse of everything before him. It was the
(05:40):
desire of appearing superior to other people. The motive was
too common to be wondered at. But the means, however
they might succeed by establishing his superiority in ill breeding,
were not likely to attach any one to him except
his wife.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Oh, my dear miss Dashwood.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Said missus Palmer soon afterwards.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I've got such a favor to ask of you and
your sister. Will you come and spend some time at
Cleveland this Christmas? Now, pray do and come while the
Westerns are with us. You cannot think how happy I
shall be. It will be quite delightful.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
My love, applying to her husband.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Don't you long to have the miss Dashwoods come to Cleveland?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Certainly, he replied with a sneer.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
They came into Devonshire with no other view there.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Now, said his lady.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
You see, mister Palmer expects you, so you cannot refuse
to come.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
They both eagerly and resolutely declined her invitation.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
But indeed you must and shall come. I am sure
you will like it. Of all things, the Westerns will
be with us, and it will be quite delightful. You
cannot think what a sweet place Cleveland is. And we
are so gay now, for mister Palmer is always going
about the country canvassing against the election, and so many
people come to dine with us that I never saw before.
(07:04):
It is quite charming. But poor fellow, it is very
fatiguing to him, for he is forced to make everybody
like him.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Eleanor could hardly keep her countenance as she assented to
the hardship of such an obligation.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
How charming it will be, said Charlotte when he is
in parliament, won't it? How I shall laugh. It will
be so ridiculous to see all his letters directed to
him with an m P. But do you know, he
says he will never frank for me. He declares he won't,
don't you, mister Palmer.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Mister Palmer took no notice of her. He cannot bear writing,
you know, she continued. He says it is quite shocking, No,
said he.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
I never said anything so illational. Good Palm, or your
abuses of languages upon me.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
There, now you see how droll he is. This is
always the way with him. Sometimes he won't speak to
me for half a day together, and then he comes
out with something so droll, all about anything in the world.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
She surprised Eleanor very much as they returned into the
drawing room by asking her whether she did not like
mister Palmer excessively certainly, said Eleanor.
Speaker 5 (08:20):
He seems very agreeable.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Well, I am so glad you do. I thought you would.
He is so pleasant, and mister Palmer is excessively pleased
with you and your sisters. I can tell you. And
you can't think how disappointed he will be if you
don't come to Cleveland. I can't imagine why you should
object to it.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Eleanor was again obliged to decline her invitation, and, by
changing the subject, put a stop to her entreaties. She
thought it probable that, as they lived in the same county,
Missus Palmer might be able to give some more particular
account of Willoughby's general character than could be gathered from
the Middle's partial acquaintance with him, and she was eager
(09:03):
to gain from any one such a confirmation of his
merits as might remove the possibility of fear from Mary Anne.
She began by inquiring if they saw much of mister
Willoughby at Cleveland, and whether they were intimately acquainted with him.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Oh, dear, yes, I know him extremely.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Well, replied missus Palmer.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Not that I ever spoke to him, indeed, but I
have seen him forever in town somehow or other. I
never happened to be staying in Barton while he was
at Allenham. Mamma saw him here once before, but I
was with my uncle at Weymouth. However, I dare say
we should have seen a great deal of him in
Somersetshire if it had not happened very unluckily that we
(09:46):
should never have been in the country together. He is
very little at Combe, I believe, but if you were
ever so much there, I do not think mister Palmer
would visit him, for he is in the opposition, you know.
And besides it is such a way off. I know
why you inquire about him very well. Your sister is
(10:07):
to marry him. I am monstrous glad of it, for
then I shall have her for a neighbor.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
You know upon my word, replied Eleanor.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
You know much more of the matter than I do.
If you have any reason to expect such a match.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Don't pretend to deny it, because you know it is
what everybody talks of. I assure you I heard of
it in my way through town.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
My dear missus Palmer, upon.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
My honor, I did. I met Colonel Brandon Monday morning
in Bond Street, just before we left town, and he
told me of it directly.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
You surprise me very much, Colonel Brandon tell you of it.
Surely you must be mistaken to give such intelligence to
a person who could not be interested in it, even
if it were true. It's not what I should expect
Colonel Brandon to do.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
But I do assure you it was so for all that,
and I will tell you how it happened. When we
met him, he turned and walked with us, and so
we began talking of my brother and sister, and one
thing and another, And I said to him, So, Colonel,
there is a new family come to Barton Cottage. I hear,
and Mamma sends me word they are very pretty, and
that one of them is going to be married to
(11:15):
mister Willoughby of Combe Magna. Is it true? Pray? For
of course you must know, as you have been in
Devonshire so lately.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
And what did the colonel say?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Oh? He did not say much, but he looked as
if he knew it to be true. So from that
moment I set it down as certain it will be
quite delightful. I declare, when is it to take place?
Speaker 5 (11:37):
Colonel Brandon was very well, I hope.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Oh, yes, quite well, and so full of your praises.
He did nothing but say fine things of you.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
I am flattered by his commendation. He seems an excellent man,
and I think him uncommonly pleasing.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Sue do I? He is such a charming man that
it is quite a pity she should be so grave
and so dull. Mamma says he was in love with
your sister too. I assure you it was a great
compliment if he was, for he hardly ever falls in
love with anybody.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
Is mister Willoughby much knowing in your part of Somersetshire.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Said Eleanor.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Oh, yes, extremely well, Alas, I do not believe many
people are acquainted with him, because Coombe Magna is so
far off, but they all think him extremely agreeable. I
assure you nobody is more liked than mister Willoughby wherever
he goes. And so you may tell your sister she's
a monstrous lucky girl to get him, upon my honor,
(12:33):
not but that he is much more lucky in getting her,
because she is so very handsome and agreeable that nothing
can be good enough for her. However, I don't think
her hardly at all handsomer than you, I assure you,
for I think you both excessively pretty, and so does
mister Palmer too. I am sure that we could not
get him to own it.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Last night, missus Palmer's information respecting Willoughby was not very material,
but any testimony in his favor, however small, was pleasing
to her.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
I am so glad we are got acquainted at.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Last, continued Charlotte.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
And now I hope we shall always be great friends.
You can't think how much I longed to see you.
It is so delightful that you should live at the cottage.
Nothing can be like it, to be sure, and I
am so glad your sister is going to be well married.
I hope you will be a great deal at Combe Magna.
It is a sweet place. By all accounts, you.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Have been long acquainted with Colonel Brandon, have you not?
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yes? A great while ever since my sister married. He
was a particular friend of Sir John's, I believe.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
She added in a low voice.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
He would have been very glad to have had me
if he could. Sir John and Lady Middleton wished it
very much, but Mamma did not think the match good
enough for me. Otherwise Sir John would have mentioned it
to the colonel and we should have been married immediately.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
Did not Colonel Brandon know of Sir John's proposal to
your mother before it was made? Had he never owned
his affection to yourself?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Oh? No, But if Mamma had not objected to it,
I daresay he would have liked it. Of all things,
he had not seen me then above twice, for it
was before I left school. However, how much happier as
I am, mister Palmer is the kind of man I
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Like end of chapter twenty
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!