by Jane Austen
Chapter 17
While Sir Walter and Elizabeth were assiduously pushing their goodfortune in Laura Place, Anne was renewing an acquaintance of a verydifferent description.
She had called on her former governess, and had heard from her of therebeing an old school-fellow in Bath, who had the two strong claims onher attention of past kindness and present suffering. Miss Hamilton,now Mrs Smith, had shewn her kindness in one of those periods of herlife when it had been most valuable. Anne had gone unhappy to school,grieving for the loss of a mother whom she had dearly loved, feelingher separation from home, and suffering as a girl of fourteen, ofstrong sensibility and not high spirits, must suffer at such a time;and Miss Hamilton, three years older than herself, but still from thewant of near relations and a settled home, remaining another year atschool, had been useful and good to her in a way which had considerablylessened her misery, and could never be remembered with indifference.
Miss Hamilton had left school, had married not long afterwards, wassaid to have married a man of fortune, and this was all that Anne hadknown of her, till now that their governess's account brought hersituation forward in a more decided but very different form.
She was a widow and poor. Her husband had been extravagant; and at hisdeath, about two years before, had left his affairs dreadfullyinvolved. She had had difficulties of every sort to contend with, andin addition to these distresses had been afflicted with a severerheumatic fever, which, finally settling in her legs, had made her forthe present a cripple. She had come to Bath on that account, and wasnow in lodgings near the hot baths, living in a very humble way, unableeven to afford herself the comfort of a servant, and of course almostexcluded from society.
Their mutual friend answered for the satisfaction which a visit fromMiss Elliot would give Mrs Smith, and Anne therefore lost no time ingoing. She mentioned nothing of what she had heard, or what sheintended, at home. It would excite no proper interest there. She onlyconsulted Lady Russell, who entered thoroughly into her sentiments, andwas most happy to convey her as near to Mrs Smith's lodgings inWestgate Buildings, as Anne chose to be taken.
The visit was paid, their acquaintance re-established, their interestin each other more than re-kindled. The first ten minutes had itsawkwardness and its emotion. Twelve years were gone since they hadparted, and each presented a somewhat different person from what theother had imagined. Twelve years had changed Anne from the blooming,silent, unformed girl of fifteen, to the elegant little woman ofseven-and-twenty, with every beauty except bloom, and with manners asconsciously right as they were invariably gentle; and twelve years hadtransformed the fine-looking, well-grown Miss Hamilton, in all the glowof health and confidence of superiority, into a poor, infirm, helplesswidow, receiving the visit of her former protegee as a favour; but allthat was uncomfortable in the meeting had soon passed away, and leftonly the interesting charm of remembering former partialities andtalking over old times.
Anne found in Mrs Smith the good sense and agreeable manners which shehad almost ventured to depend on, and a disposition to converse and becheerful beyond her expectation. Neither the dissipations of thepast--and she had lived very much in the world--nor the restrictions ofthe present, neither sickness nor sorrow seemed to have closed herheart or ruined her spirits.
In the course of a second visit she talked with great openness, andAnne's astonishment increased. She could scarcely imagine a morecheerless situation in itself than Mrs Smith's. She had been very fondof her husband: she had buried him. She had been used to affluence:it was gone. She had no child to connect her with life and happinessagain, no relations to assist in the arrangement of perplexed affairs,no health to make all the rest supportable. Her accommodations werelimited to a noisy parlour, and a dark bedroom behind, with nopossibility of moving from one to the other without assistance, whichthere was only one servant in the house to afford, and she neverquitted the house but to be conveyed into the warm bath. Yet, in spiteof all this, Anne had reason to believe that she had moments only oflanguor and depression, to hours of occupation and enjoyment. Howcould it be? She watched, observed, reflected, and finally determinedthat this was not a case of fortitude or of resignation only. Asubmissive spirit might be patient, a strong understanding would supplyresolution, but here was something more; here was that elasticity ofmind, that disposition to be comforted, that power of turning readilyfrom evil to good, and of finding employment which carried her out ofherself, which was from nature alone. It was the choicest gift ofHeaven; and Anne viewed her friend as one of those instances in which,by a merciful appointment, it seems designed to counterbalance almostevery other want.
There had been a time, Mrs Smith told her, when her spirits had nearlyfailed. She could not call herself an invalid now, compared with herstate on first reaching Bath. Then she had, indeed, been a pitiableobject; for she had caught cold on the journey, and had hardly takenpossession of her lodgings before she was again confined to her bed andsuffering under severe and constant pain; and all this among strangers,with the absolute necessity of having a regular nurse, and finances atthat moment particularly unfit to meet any extraordinary expense. Shehad weathered it, however, and could truly say that it had done hergood. It had increased her comforts by making her feel herself to bein good hands. She had seen too much of the world, to expect sudden ordisinterested attachment anywhere, but her illness had proved to herthat her landlady had a character to preserve, and would not use herill; and she had been particularly fortunate in her nurse, as a sisterof her landlady, a nurse by profession, and who had always a home inthat house when unemployed, chanced to be at liberty just in time toattend her. "And she," said Mrs Smith, "besides nursing me mostadmirably, has really proved an invaluable acquaintance. As soon as Icould use my hands she taught me to knit, which has been a greatamusement; and she put me in the way of making these littlethread-cases, pin-cushions and card-racks, which you always find me sobusy about, and which supply me with the means of doing a little goodto one or two very poor families in this neighbourhood. She had alarge acquaintance, of course professionally, among those who canafford to buy, and she disposes of my merchandise. She always takesthe right time for applying. Everybody's heart is open, you know, whenthey have recently escaped from severe pain, or are recovering theblessing of health, and Nurse Rooke thoroughly understands when tospeak. She is a shrewd, intelligent, sensible woman. Hers is a linefor seeing human nature; and she has a fund of good sense andobservation, which, as a companion, make her infinitely superior tothousands of those who having only received 'the best education in theworld,' know nothing worth attending to. Call it gossip, if you will,but when Nurse Rooke has half an hour's leisure to bestow on me, she issure to have something to relate that is entertaining and profitable:something that makes one know one's species better. One likes to hearwhat is going on, to be au fait as to the newest modes of beingtrifling and silly. To me, who live so much alone, her conversation, Iassure you, is a treat."
Anne, far from wishing to cavil at the pleasure, replied, "I can easilybelieve it. Women of that class have great opportunities, and if theyare intelligent may be well worth listening to. Such varieties ofhuman nature as they are in the habit of witnessing! And it is notmerely in its follies, that they are well read; for they see itoccasionally under every circumstance that can be most interesting oraffecting. What instances must pass before them of ardent,disinterested, self-denying attachment, of heroism, fortitude,patience, resignation: of all the conflicts and all the sacrificesthat ennoble us most. A sick chamber may often furnish the worth ofvolumes."
"Yes," said Mrs Smith more doubtingly, "sometimes it may, though I fearits lessons are not often in the elevated style you describe. Here andthere, human nature may be great in times of trial; but generallyspeaking, it is its weakness and not its strength that appears in asick chamber: it is selfishness and impatience rather than generosityand fortitude, that one hears of. There is so little real friendshipin the
world! and unfortunately" (speaking low and tremulously) "thereare so many who forget to think seriously till it is almost too late."
Anne saw the misery of such feelings. The husband had not been what heought, and the wife had been led among that part of mankind which madeher think worse of the world than she hoped it deserved. It was but apassing emotion however with Mrs Smith; she shook it off, and soonadded in a different tone--
"I do not suppose the situation my friend Mrs Rooke is in at present,will furnish much either to interest or edify me. She is only nursingMrs Wallis of Marlborough Buildings; a mere pretty, silly, expensive,fashionable woman, I believe; and of course will have nothing to reportbut of lace and finery. I mean to make my profit of Mrs Wallis,however. She has plenty of money, and I intend she shall buy all thehigh-priced things I have in hand now."
Anne had called several times on her friend, before the existence ofsuch a person was known in Camden Place. At last, it became necessaryto speak of her. Sir Walter, Elizabeth and Mrs Clay, returned onemorning from Laura Place, with a sudden invitation from Lady Dalrymplefor the same evening, and Anne was already engaged, to spend thatevening in Westgate Buildings. She was not sorry for the excuse. Theywere only asked, she was sure, because Lady Dalrymple being kept athome by a bad cold, was glad to make use of the relationship which hadbeen so pressed on her; and she declined on her own account with greatalacrity--"She was engaged to spend the evening with an oldschoolfellow." They were not much interested in anything relative toAnne; but still there were questions enough asked, to make itunderstood what this old schoolfellow was; and Elizabeth wasdisdainful, and Sir Walter severe.
"Westgate Buildings!" said he, "and who is Miss Anne Elliot to bevisiting in Westgate Buildings? A Mrs Smith. A widow Mrs Smith; andwho was her husband? One of five thousand Mr Smiths whose names are tobe met with everywhere. And what is her attraction? That she is oldand sickly. Upon my word, Miss Anne Elliot, you have the mostextraordinary taste! Everything that revolts other people, lowcompany, paltry rooms, foul air, disgusting associations are invitingto you. But surely you may put off this old lady till to-morrow: sheis not so near her end, I presume, but that she may hope to see anotherday. What is her age? Forty?"
"No, sir, she is not one-and-thirty; but I do not think I can put offmy engagement, because it is the only evening for some time which willat once suit her and myself. She goes into the warm bath to-morrow,and for the rest of the week, you know, we are engaged."
"But what does Lady Russell think of this acquaintance?" askedElizabeth.
"She sees nothing to blame in it," replied Anne; "on the contrary, sheapproves it, and has generally taken me when I have called on MrsSmith."
"Westgate Buildings must have been rather surprised by the appearanceof a carriage drawn up near its pavement," observed Sir Walter. "SirHenry Russell's widow, indeed, has no honours to distinguish her arms,but still it is a handsome equipage, and no doubt is well known toconvey a Miss Elliot. A widow Mrs Smith lodging in Westgate Buildings!A poor widow barely able to live, between thirty and forty; a mere MrsSmith, an every-day Mrs Smith, of all people and all names in theworld, to be the chosen friend of Miss Anne Elliot, and to be preferredby her to her own family connections among the nobility of England andIreland! Mrs Smith! Such a name!"
Mrs Clay, who had been present while all this passed, now thought itadvisable to leave the room, and Anne could have said much, and didlong to say a little in defence of her friend's not very dissimilarclaims to theirs, but her sense of personal respect to her fatherprevented her. She made no reply. She left it to himself torecollect, that Mrs Smith was not the only widow in Bath between thirtyand forty, with little to live on, and no surname of dignity.
Anne kept her appointment; the others kept theirs, and of course sheheard the next morning that they had had a delightful evening. She hadbeen the only one of the set absent, for Sir Walter and Elizabeth hadnot only been quite at her ladyship's service themselves, but hadactually been happy to be employed by her in collecting others, and hadbeen at the trouble of inviting both Lady Russell and Mr Elliot; and MrElliot had made a point of leaving Colonel Wallis early, and LadyRussell had fresh arranged all her evening engagements in order to waiton her. Anne had the whole history of all that such an evening couldsupply from Lady Russell. To her, its greatest interest must be, inhaving been very much talked of between her friend and Mr Elliot; inhaving been wished for, regretted, and at the same time honoured forstaying away in such a cause. Her kind, compassionate visits to thisold schoolfellow, sick and reduced, seemed to have quite delighted MrElliot. He thought her a most extraordinary young woman; in hertemper, manners, mind, a model of female excellence. He could meeteven Lady Russell in a discussion of her merits; and Anne could not begiven to understand so much by her friend, could not know herself to beso highly rated by a sensible man, without many of those agreeablesensations which her friend meant to create.
Lady Russell was now perfectly decided in her opinion of Mr Elliot.She was as much convinced of his meaning to gain Anne in time as of hisdeserving her, and was beginning to calculate the number of weeks whichwould free him from all the remaining restraints of widowhood, andleave him at liberty to exert his most open powers of pleasing. Shewould not speak to Anne with half the certainty she felt on thesubject, she would venture on little more than hints of what might behereafter, of a possible attachment on his side, of the desirablenessof the alliance, supposing such attachment to be real and returned.Anne heard her, and made no violent exclamations; she only smiled,blushed, and gently shook her head.
"I am no match-maker, as you well know," said Lady Russell, "being muchtoo well aware of the uncertainty of all human events and calculations.I only mean that if Mr Elliot should some time hence pay his addressesto you, and if you should be disposed to accept him, I think therewould be every possibility of your being happy together. A mostsuitable connection everybody must consider it, but I think it might bea very happy one."
"Mr Elliot is an exceedingly agreeable man, and in many respects Ithink highly of him," said Anne; "but we should not suit."
Lady Russell let this pass, and only said in rejoinder, "I own that tobe able to regard you as the future mistress of Kellynch, the futureLady Elliot, to look forward and see you occupying your dear mother'splace, succeeding to all her rights, and all her popularity, as well asto all her virtues, would be the highest possible gratification to me.You are your mother's self in countenance and disposition; and if Imight be allowed to fancy you such as she was, in situation and name,and home, presiding and blessing in the same spot, and only superior toher in being more highly valued! My dearest Anne, it would give memore delight than is often felt at my time of life!"
Anne was obliged to turn away, to rise, to walk to a distant table,and, leaning there in pretended employment, try to subdue the feelingsthis picture excited. For a few moments her imagination and her heartwere bewitched. The idea of becoming what her mother had been; ofhaving the precious name of "Lady Elliot" first revived in herself; ofbeing restored to Kellynch, calling it her home again, her home forever, was a charm which she could not immediately resist. Lady Russellsaid not another word, willing to leave the matter to its ownoperation; and believing that, could Mr Elliot at that moment withpropriety have spoken for himself!--she believed, in short, what Annedid not believe. The same image of Mr Elliot speaking for himselfbrought Anne to composure again. The charm of Kellynch and of "LadyElliot" all faded away. She never could accept him. And it was notonly that her feelings were still adverse to any man save one; herjudgement, on a serious consideration of the possibilities of such acase was against Mr Elliot.
Though they had now been acquainted a month, she could not be satisfiedthat she really knew his character. That he was a sensible man, anagreeable man, that he talked well, professed good opinions, seemed tojudge properly and as a man of principle, this was all clear enough.He certainly knew what was right, nor could she fix on any
one articleof moral duty evidently transgressed; but yet she would have beenafraid to answer for his conduct. She distrusted the past, if not thepresent. The names which occasionally dropt of former associates, theallusions to former practices and pursuits, suggested suspicions notfavourable of what he had been. She saw that there had been badhabits; that Sunday travelling had been a common thing; that there hadbeen a period of his life (and probably not a short one) when he hadbeen, at least, careless in all serious matters; and, though he mightnow think very differently, who could answer for the true sentiments ofa clever, cautious man, grown old enough to appreciate a faircharacter? How could it ever be ascertained that his mind was trulycleansed?
Mr Elliot was rational, discreet, polished, but he was not open. Therewas never any burst of feeling, any warmth of indignation or delight,at the evil or good of others. This, to Anne, was a decidedimperfection. Her early impressions were incurable. She prized thefrank, the open-hearted, the eager character beyond all others. Warmthand enthusiasm did captivate her still. She felt that she could somuch more depend upon the sincerity of those who sometimes looked orsaid a careless or a hasty thing, than of those whose presence of mindnever varied, whose tongue never slipped.
Mr Elliot was too generally agreeable. Various as were the tempers inher father's house, he pleased them all. He endured too well, stoodtoo well with every body. He had spoken to her with some degree ofopenness of Mrs Clay; had appeared completely to see what Mrs Clay wasabout, and to hold her in contempt; and yet Mrs Clay found him asagreeable as any body.
Lady Russell saw either less or more than her young friend, for she sawnothing to excite distrust. She could not imagine a man more exactlywhat he ought to be than Mr Elliot; nor did she ever enjoy a sweeterfeeling than the hope of seeing him receive the hand of her belovedAnne in Kellynch church, in the course of the following autumn.