October 24, 2025 • 9 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter forty three. It was presumed that mister Crawford was
traveling back to London on the morrow, for nothing more
was seen of him at mister Price's, and two days
afterwards it was a fact ascertained to Fanny by the
following letter from his sister, opened and read by her.
On another account, with the most anxious curiosity, I have
(00:20):
to inform you, my dearest Fanny, that Henry has been
down to Portsmouth to see you. That he had a
delightful walk with you to the dock yard last Saturday,
and one still more to be dwelt on the next
day on the ramparts, when the balmy air, the sparkling sea,
and your sweet looks and conversation were altogether in the
most delicious harmony and afforded sensations which are to raise
(00:43):
ecstasy even in retrospect. This, as well, as I understand,
is to be the substance of my information. He makes
me write, But I do not know what else is
to be communicated except this said visit to Portsmouth, and
these two said walks, and his introduction to your family,
especially to a fair sister of yours, a fine girl
(01:04):
of fifteen, who was of the party on the ramparts,
taking her first lesson. I presume in love, I have
not time for writing much, but it would be out
of place if I had. For this is to be
a mere letter of business, penned for the purpose of
conveying necessary information which could not be delayed without risk
of evil. My dear dear Fanny, if I had you here,
(01:26):
how I would talk to you? You should listen to
me till you were tired, and advise me till you
were tired still more. But it is impossible to put
an hundredth part of my great mind on paper, so
I will abstain altogether and leave you to guess what
you like. I have no news for you. You have politics,
of course, and it would be too bad to plague
(01:46):
you with the names of people and parties that fill
up my time. I ought to have sent you an
account of your cousin's first party, but I was lazy,
and now it is too long ago. Suffice it that
everything was just as it all to be, in a
style that many of her collections must have been gratified
to witness, and that her own dress and manners did
(02:06):
her the greatest credit. My friend, missus Fraser is mad
for such a house, and it would not make me miserable.
I go to Lady Stornaway after Easter. She seems in
high spirits and very happy. I fancy Lord s is
very good humored and pleasant in his own family, and
I do not think him so very ill looking as
I did. At least one sees many worse. He will
(02:30):
not do by the side of your cousin Edmund, of
the last mentioned hero, What shall I say? If I
avoided his name entirely, it would look suspicious. I will
say then that we have seen him two or three times,
and that my friends here are very much struck with
his gentlemanlike appearance. Missus Fraser, no bad judge, declares she
(02:50):
knows but three men in town who have so good
a person, height and air. And I must confess when
he dined here the other day there were none to
compare with him, and we were a party of sixteen.
Luckily there is no distinction of dress now a days
to tell tales. But but but yours affectionately, I had
(03:11):
almost forgot it was Edmund's fault. He gets into my
head more than does me good. One very material thing
I had to say from Henry and myself. I mean
about our taking you back into Northamptonshire. My dear little creature,
do not stay at Portsmouth to lose your pretty looks.
Those vile sea breezes are the ruin of beauty and health.
(03:31):
My poor aunt always felt affected if within ten miles
of the sea, which the Admiral, of course never believed,
but I know it was. So I am at your
service and Henry's at an hour's notice. I should like
the scheme, and we would make a little circuit and
show you Everingham in our way, and perhaps you would
not mind passing through London and seeing the inside of
(03:52):
Saint George's Hanover Square. Only keep your cousin Edmund from
me at such a time. I should not like to
be tempted. What a long letter. One word more, Henry
I find has some idea of going into Norfolk again
upon some business that you approve. But this cannot possibly
be permitted before the middle of next week. That is,
he cannot anyhow be spared till after the fourteenth, for
(04:15):
we have a party that evening. The value of a
man like Henry on certain occasion is what you can
have no conception of. So you must take it upon
my word to be inestimable. He will see the rushworths
which I own. I am not sorry for having a
little curiosity, and so I think has he, though he
will not acknowledge it. This was a letter to be
(04:36):
run through eagerly, to be read deliberately, to supply matter
for much reflection, and to leave everything in greater suspense
than ever. The only certainty to be drawn from it
was that nothing decisive had yet taken place. Edmund had
not yet spoken how Miss Crawford really felt, how she
meant to act or might act without or against her meaning,
(04:59):
whether his importantons to her were quite what it had
been before the last separation, whether if lessened it were
likely to lessen more or to recover itself, were subjects
for endless conjecture, and to be thought of on that
day and many days to come, without producing any conclusion.
The idea that returned the oftenest was that Miss Crawford,
(05:19):
after proving herself cooled and staggered by a return to
London habits, would yet prove herself in the end too
much attached to him to give him up. She would
try to be more ambitious than her heart would allow,
she would hesitate, she would tease, she would condition, she
would require a great deal, but she would finally accept.
This was Fanny's most frequent expectation, a house in town
(05:43):
that she thought must be impossible. Yet there was no
saying what Miss Crawford might not ask. The prospect for
her cousin grew worse and worse. The woman who could
speak of him, and speak only of his appearance. What
an unworthy attachment to be deriving support from the commendations
of Fraser, She who had known him intimately half a year.
(06:04):
Fanny was ashamed of her. Those parts of the letter,
which related only to mister Crawford and herself, touched her
in comparison slightly. Whether mister Crawford went into Norfolk before
or after the fourteenth was certainly no concern of hers,
though everything considered, she thought he would go without delay.
That Miss Crawford should endeavor to secure a meeting between
(06:24):
him and missus Rushworth was in all her worst line
of conduct, and grossly unkind and ill judged, But she
hoped he would not be actuated by any such degrading curiosity.
He acknowledged no such inducement, and his sister ought to
have given him credit for better feelings than her own.
She was yet more impatient for another letter from town
(06:44):
after receiving this than she had been before, and for
a few days we was so unsettled by it altogether,
by what had come and what might come, that her
usual readings and conversation with Susan were much suspended. She
could not command her attention as she wished. If mister
Crawford remembered her message to her cousin. She thought it
very likely, most likely that he would write to her.
(07:06):
At all events, it would be most consistent with his
usual kindness. And till she got rid of this idea,
till it gradually wore off, by no letters appearing in
the course of three or four days more, she was
in a most restless, anxious state. At length, a something
like composure succeeded. Suspense must be submitted to, and must
not be allowed to wear her out and make her useless.
(07:29):
Time did something, her own exertions something more, and she
resumed her attentions to Susan and again awakened the same
interest in them. Susan was growing very fond of her,
and though without any of the early delight in books,
which had been so strong in Fanny, with a disposition
much less inclined to sedentary pursuits or to information for
(07:50):
information's sake, she had so strong a desire of not
appearing ignorant as with a good, clear understanding made her
a most attentive, profitable, thankful pupil. Fanny was her oracle.
Fanny's explanations and remarks were a most important addition to
every essay or every chapter of history. What Fanny told
her of former times dwelt more on her mind than
(08:12):
the pages of Goldsmith, and she paid her sister the
compliment of preferring her style to that of any printed author.
The early habit of reading was wanting. Their conversations, however,
were not always on subjects so high as history or morals.
Others had their hour, and of lesser matters. None returned
so often or remained so long between them as Mansfield Park.
(08:35):
A description of the people, the manners, the amusements, the
ways of Mansfield Park. Susan, who had an innate taste
for the genteel and well appointed, was eager to hear,
and Fanny could not but indulge herself in dwelling on
so beloved a theme, she hoped it was not wrong,
though after a time Susan's very great admiration of everything
(08:55):
said or done in her uncle's house and earnest longing
to go into Northamptonshire seemed almost to blame her for
exciting feelings which could not be gratified. Poor Susan was
very little better fitted for home than her elder sister,
and as Fanny grew thoroughly to understand this, she began
to feel that when her own release from Portsmouth came,
her happiness would have a material drawback in leaving Susan behind.
(09:20):
That a girl so capable of being made everything good
should be left in such hands distressed her. More and
more were she likely to have a home to invite
her to, what a blessing it would be. And had
it been possible for her to return mister Crawford's regard,
the probability of his being very far from objecting to
such a measure would have been the greatest increase of
(09:41):
all her own comforts. She thought he was really good tempered,
and could fancy his entering into a plan of that
sort most pleasantly. End of Chapter forty three
Chapter forty three. It was presumed that mister Crawford was
traveling back to London on the morrow, for nothing more
was seen of him at mister Price's, and two days
afterwards it was a fact ascertained to Fanny by the
following letter from his sister, opened and read by her.
On another account, with the most anxious curiosity, I have
(00:20):
to inform you, my dearest Fanny, that Henry has been
down to Portsmouth to see you. That he had a
delightful walk with you to the dock yard last Saturday,
and one still more to be dwelt on the next
day on the ramparts, when the balmy air, the sparkling sea,
and your sweet looks and conversation were altogether in the
most delicious harmony and afforded sensations which are to raise
(00:43):
ecstasy even in retrospect. This, as well, as I understand,
is to be the substance of my information. He makes
me write, But I do not know what else is
to be communicated except this said visit to Portsmouth, and
these two said walks, and his introduction to your family,
especially to a fair sister of yours, a fine girl
(01:04):
of fifteen, who was of the party on the ramparts,
taking her first lesson. I presume in love, I have
not time for writing much, but it would be out
of place if I had. For this is to be
a mere letter of business, penned for the purpose of
conveying necessary information which could not be delayed without risk
of evil. My dear dear Fanny, if I had you here,
(01:26):
how I would talk to you? You should listen to
me till you were tired, and advise me till you
were tired still more. But it is impossible to put
an hundredth part of my great mind on paper, so
I will abstain altogether and leave you to guess what
you like. I have no news for you. You have politics,
of course, and it would be too bad to plague
(01:46):
you with the names of people and parties that fill
up my time. I ought to have sent you an
account of your cousin's first party, but I was lazy,
and now it is too long ago. Suffice it that
everything was just as it all to be, in a
style that many of her collections must have been gratified
to witness, and that her own dress and manners did
(02:06):
her the greatest credit. My friend, missus Fraser is mad
for such a house, and it would not make me miserable.
I go to Lady Stornaway after Easter. She seems in
high spirits and very happy. I fancy Lord s is
very good humored and pleasant in his own family, and
I do not think him so very ill looking as
I did. At least one sees many worse. He will
(02:30):
not do by the side of your cousin Edmund, of
the last mentioned hero, What shall I say? If I
avoided his name entirely, it would look suspicious. I will
say then that we have seen him two or three times,
and that my friends here are very much struck with
his gentlemanlike appearance. Missus Fraser, no bad judge, declares she
(02:50):
knows but three men in town who have so good
a person, height and air. And I must confess when
he dined here the other day there were none to
compare with him, and we were a party of sixteen.
Luckily there is no distinction of dress now a days
to tell tales. But but but yours affectionately, I had
(03:11):
almost forgot it was Edmund's fault. He gets into my
head more than does me good. One very material thing
I had to say from Henry and myself. I mean
about our taking you back into Northamptonshire. My dear little creature,
do not stay at Portsmouth to lose your pretty looks.
Those vile sea breezes are the ruin of beauty and health.
(03:31):
My poor aunt always felt affected if within ten miles
of the sea, which the Admiral, of course never believed,
but I know it was. So I am at your
service and Henry's at an hour's notice. I should like
the scheme, and we would make a little circuit and
show you Everingham in our way, and perhaps you would
not mind passing through London and seeing the inside of
(03:52):
Saint George's Hanover Square. Only keep your cousin Edmund from
me at such a time. I should not like to
be tempted. What a long letter. One word more, Henry
I find has some idea of going into Norfolk again
upon some business that you approve. But this cannot possibly
be permitted before the middle of next week. That is,
he cannot anyhow be spared till after the fourteenth, for
(04:15):
we have a party that evening. The value of a
man like Henry on certain occasion is what you can
have no conception of. So you must take it upon
my word to be inestimable. He will see the rushworths
which I own. I am not sorry for having a
little curiosity, and so I think has he, though he
will not acknowledge it. This was a letter to be
(04:36):
run through eagerly, to be read deliberately, to supply matter
for much reflection, and to leave everything in greater suspense
than ever. The only certainty to be drawn from it
was that nothing decisive had yet taken place. Edmund had
not yet spoken how Miss Crawford really felt, how she
meant to act or might act without or against her meaning,
(04:59):
whether his importantons to her were quite what it had
been before the last separation, whether if lessened it were
likely to lessen more or to recover itself, were subjects
for endless conjecture, and to be thought of on that
day and many days to come, without producing any conclusion.
The idea that returned the oftenest was that Miss Crawford,
(05:19):
after proving herself cooled and staggered by a return to
London habits, would yet prove herself in the end too
much attached to him to give him up. She would
try to be more ambitious than her heart would allow,
she would hesitate, she would tease, she would condition, she
would require a great deal, but she would finally accept.
This was Fanny's most frequent expectation, a house in town
(05:43):
that she thought must be impossible. Yet there was no
saying what Miss Crawford might not ask. The prospect for
her cousin grew worse and worse. The woman who could
speak of him, and speak only of his appearance. What
an unworthy attachment to be deriving support from the commendations
of Fraser, She who had known him intimately half a year.
(06:04):
Fanny was ashamed of her. Those parts of the letter,
which related only to mister Crawford and herself, touched her
in comparison slightly. Whether mister Crawford went into Norfolk before
or after the fourteenth was certainly no concern of hers,
though everything considered, she thought he would go without delay.
That Miss Crawford should endeavor to secure a meeting between
(06:24):
him and missus Rushworth was in all her worst line
of conduct, and grossly unkind and ill judged, But she
hoped he would not be actuated by any such degrading curiosity.
He acknowledged no such inducement, and his sister ought to
have given him credit for better feelings than her own.
She was yet more impatient for another letter from town
(06:44):
after receiving this than she had been before, and for
a few days we was so unsettled by it altogether,
by what had come and what might come, that her
usual readings and conversation with Susan were much suspended. She
could not command her attention as she wished. If mister
Crawford remembered her message to her cousin. She thought it
very likely, most likely that he would write to her.
(07:06):
At all events, it would be most consistent with his
usual kindness. And till she got rid of this idea,
till it gradually wore off, by no letters appearing in
the course of three or four days more, she was
in a most restless, anxious state. At length, a something
like composure succeeded. Suspense must be submitted to, and must
not be allowed to wear her out and make her useless.
(07:29):
Time did something, her own exertions something more, and she
resumed her attentions to Susan and again awakened the same
interest in them. Susan was growing very fond of her,
and though without any of the early delight in books,
which had been so strong in Fanny, with a disposition
much less inclined to sedentary pursuits or to information for
(07:50):
information's sake, she had so strong a desire of not
appearing ignorant as with a good, clear understanding made her
a most attentive, profitable, thankful pupil. Fanny was her oracle.
Fanny's explanations and remarks were a most important addition to
every essay or every chapter of history. What Fanny told
her of former times dwelt more on her mind than
(08:12):
the pages of Goldsmith, and she paid her sister the
compliment of preferring her style to that of any printed author.
The early habit of reading was wanting. Their conversations, however,
were not always on subjects so high as history or morals.
Others had their hour, and of lesser matters. None returned
so often or remained so long between them as Mansfield Park.
(08:35):
A description of the people, the manners, the amusements, the
ways of Mansfield Park. Susan, who had an innate taste
for the genteel and well appointed, was eager to hear,
and Fanny could not but indulge herself in dwelling on
so beloved a theme, she hoped it was not wrong,
though after a time Susan's very great admiration of everything
(08:55):
said or done in her uncle's house and earnest longing
to go into Northamptonshire seemed almost to blame her for
exciting feelings which could not be gratified. Poor Susan was
very little better fitted for home than her elder sister,
and as Fanny grew thoroughly to understand this, she began
to feel that when her own release from Portsmouth came,
her happiness would have a material drawback in leaving Susan behind.
(09:20):
That a girl so capable of being made everything good
should be left in such hands distressed her. More and
more were she likely to have a home to invite
her to, what a blessing it would be. And had
it been possible for her to return mister Crawford's regard,
the probability of his being very far from objecting to
such a measure would have been the greatest increase of
(09:41):
all her own comforts. She thought he was really good tempered,
and could fancy his entering into a plan of that
sort most pleasantly. End of Chapter forty three
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